Beyond Hope
by yente
Summary: UPDATED AFTER WHAT SEEMS LIKE YEARS! Taking place immediately after my previous story, Tielle and Chayden become fugitives on the run. Tielle braves capture, however, when her home planet is plagued with a deadly virus that no one can find a cure to. R&R!
1. Invasion

Before reading this story, I recommend reading Halo of Glory, which takes place immediately before this one. Reading it first will make things much clearer when reading this story, and since the setting is in a galaxy of my making, reading this story without reading Halo of Glory may cause some confusion.  
  
Part One- Destruction  
  
Chapter One- Invasion  
  
Jeremiah 22:7- "I will send destroyers against you."  
  
At high noon, the guards went to the princess's cell, to bring her to her execution. King Faihn was standing by, waiting to make the transmission to Hidon and give Partini one last chance to surrender or have Hidon be destroyed alongside his daughter.  
  
The captain pressed the button and the door slid open.  
  
The cell was empty.  
  
Shock gave way to duty, and he spoke into the comdevice on his wrist. "Unit 3424900-AK-3945 to prison base. Waiting response."  
  
The reply was swift in coming. "Unit AK-3945, this is base. What seems to be the problem?"  
  
"We were issued orders to come and take the princess to her execution, correct?"  
  
"Affirmative."  
  
"At this time?"  
  
"Affirmative. You have the right time."  
  
"Then I regret to inform you that the princess is not in her cell."  
  
**  
  
At first the rumors that the princess had escaped were quickly quelled when people reported that they had seen her with the prince. The prince, of course, could be trusted, and perhaps they had just gone outside and the prince had lost track of time.  
  
A thorough search of the grounds and a transmission to the prince that remained without an answer quickly killed that theory. It was further dismissed when they discovered that a shuttle had been stolen.  
  
King Faihn was not pleased when the reports came in. The evidence pointed to only one thing: his son had helped the princess escape and had then gone with her.  
  
**  
  
Princess Tielle Alaissyiss Nucona Satine of Hidon settled into her co-pilot seat and relaxed. There wasn't anything to do while in light-space. "So, where are we going?"  
  
Prince Chayden P'ashara looked up from the controls. "Surlow. Ever heard of it?"  
  
Appalled, Tielle stared at him. "Yes, just a bit. But it was enough."  
  
"I know it's not the best place, but-"  
  
"Oh? That's how you put it? 'Not the best place'? It's a disgusting world of crimelords and slavers, fugitives-"  
  
"Tielle," Chayden gently reprimanded her. "We are fugitives now. Surlow does not care about our side of the galaxy. They don't care about the war between Fareari and Hidon, and therefore we're safe there."  
  
"Not when news of our escape is broadcast to the entire galaxy and bounty hunters start hunting for us!"  
  
"We're not safe anywhere when that happens, Tielle. But no one will expect us to be on Surlow because we're royalty. It's not the kind of place where royalty go."  
  
*Vast understatement*, Tielle thought darkly.  
  
"It will only be a temporary haven, until we can figure out where we're going to go."  
  
Ordinarily, Tielle would have immediately suggested either Ziex or Shansire to go to; both planets were staunch allies of Hidon, where she was the Crown Princess. But both were also staunch enemies of Fareari, and Chayden was one of Fareari's princes. Tielle knew that she would be warmly welcomed on Ziex or especially Shansire, but Chayden? His presence complicated matters.  
  
Tielle sighed. In more ways than one. She was engaged to Prince Kall of Shansire. And even if she somehow managed to break off that engagement without offending Shansire, how could she convince her father that Chayden was not a deceitful Farearian?  
  
She shook her head slightly, pushing away such troubling thoughts. Right now there were more pressing matters to deal with.  
  
Turning in her co-pilot's chair, Tielle pressed a button to call up a 3-D map of the galaxy and started looking at planets. Which one would present her and Chayden with a safe haven?  
  
**  
  
"Your Majesty," King Partini of Hidon was interrupted in his office by a young page.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
The page was flustered and obviously nervous, swallowing and gulping. She pressed her lips together, then exhaled quickly. "King Faihn is waiting on the one open frequency to speak privately with you. He says that if you do not immediately surrender, he will invade Hidon."  
  
Partini dismissed the page and retreated into his thoughts. So Faihn was finally going to invade, was he? After all this time, with Fareari's spaceships hanging in Hidon's atmosphere, creating a blockade.  
  
Hidon had not suffered from the blockade. Her valleys were too fertile, her people too industrious. Hidon was a fairly independent planet, and could survive for long amounts of time without importing anything from other planets.  
  
But although Hidon had not suffered from the blockade, it had not been comforting to know that at any moment, death and destruction could come from the sky, ruining everything that everyone on Hidon had worked so hard to create..  
  
Partini opened his frequency and tried not to grimace as the image of Faihn filled the view-screen. "You wanted to speak to me?"  
  
Faihn smiled menacingly. "Yes. Surrender now or be obliterated."  
  
"Come now, you don't expect me to believe that you will destroy Hidon? I know you want it intact so that you can export all its produce and make money."  
  
"That doesn't mean I won't destroy your palace and kill you."  
  
Partini shrugged. "That's a chance I'd have to take." He leaned closer to the view-screen. "How is my daughter? The last time I saw her, she had just been interrogated when she fainted and could not be revived."  
  
Faihn shrugged.  
  
"*Is she alive?*" Partini roared, losing patience with this pompous king.  
  
"That she is. For the moment."  
  
"And?"  
  
"That's all I will say."  
  
"Is she lying in a coma? Fully recovered?"  
  
Faihn shrugged once again.  
  
Partini knew it was no use and switched daughters. "And Arilana?"  
  
"Arilana?"  
  
"The younger one."  
  
"Ah, yes. The younger one." Faihn smirked. "Well, I regret to tell you this- "  
  
*Yeah, I bet you do.* Partini thought skeptically.  
  
"-but she is dead."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"I give you my word that I did not kill her. Someone who also tried to kill the Crown Princess assassinated her. We managed to prevent the Crown Princess's death but not Arilana's."  
  
Rage seeped through Partini and he managed to grit out, "Do you know who was behind the assassination?"  
  
Faihn coolly appraised the other king and seemed to consider the question. "I do not know."  
  
Partini didn't believe him. He wasn't sure if he even believed that it hadn't been Faihn. "Really."  
  
Faihn nodded. "It seems that your family is quickly dwindling, eh Partini?"  
  
Partini didn't reply, and just scratched his neck, stung by the reminder of the deaths of four out of five of his children within the past year.  
  
"But never mind that; will you or will you not surrender immediately and unconditionally to me?"  
  
"I will not."  
  
The words were spoken firmly and with such conviction behind them that they seemed to put Faihn off guard for a moment. He recovered, however, and wickedly grinned.  
  
"Then be prepared to face the consequences."  
  
**  
  
Fareari attacked, suddenly and devastatingly. The few Hidonian vessels that stood in the Farearian fleet's way were quickly destroyed as billions helplessly watched oppression come from their skies.  
  
The palace, and all who were in it, were conquered within an hour of the start of the attack.  
  
An hour later, Shansire's fleet arrived, too late to help. 


	2. Arriving on Surlow

Chapter Two- Arriving on Surlow Isaiah 65:15- "You will leave your name."  
  
They arrived at Surlow and were given a landing bay at the main spaceport in Tersha, the capital city that was infamous for its success in attracting criminals from across the galaxy.  
  
He was a criminal now too, Chayden reminded himself. No doubt he would be disowned from the Royal Family on Fareari and if he ever returned to Fareari would be tried for treason, not to mention blasphemy and heresy if they discovered that he now believed in Hidon's God.  
  
All this for Tielle. But it was worth it.  
  
"Tielle," he tapped her lightly on the shoulder, and she turned to face him. "We need to change our appearance so that no one recognizes us. You especially, your red hair and green eyes are just too distinct."  
  
She sighed mournfully. "I guess I'll have to cut and dye it, won't I?" she said regretfully, then made an effort to smile and said, "How do you think I'll look as a brunette?"  
  
Chayden grinned. "If as a brunette you're anywhere near as beautiful as you are a redhead, we won't be able to go anywhere unnoticed."  
  
She blushed and laughed at him. "You charmer, you. C'mon; let's get off of this cell of a ship. It's been awhile since I've been able to walk freely, and I want to enjoy the privilege."  
  
They left the ship, both wearing hoods to cover their conspicuous features. They blended well in with the general populace, however; over half of the people they saw were also somehow concealing their features.  
  
Both Chayden and Tielle were armed with their lasers, but still Chayden made sure Tielle kept close to him. Her cloak hid her hair and eyes, but not her noticeably curvy and womanly form, nor her feminine lips and features. Many were eyeing her with interest, so Chayden draped an arm around her waist, making all on-lookers and fellow pedestrians think twice about approaching her.  
  
They reached a commercial section of the city and entered a small store. No doubt looking ridiculous, they headed over to the hair dye section of the beauty section of the store and examined the hair coloring kits.  
  
"I don't know anything about any of this," Chayden moaned, waving at the opposing boxes. "You pick them out."  
  
"Oh, you think *I* know anything about this stuff?" Tielle countered. "You think *I've* ever dyed my hair?" She pulled two kits off the shelf and handed them to him. "Here, these two should be good."  
  
" 'Captivating Russet and Deep Bronze'?" He read off the kits. "Who's the captivating russet and who's the deep bronze?"  
  
"I'm the captivating russet, of course," Tielle sniffed pompously. "With my red eyebrows, a true brown would not look right. Hence the auburn."  
  
"Oh, and a true brown would look good with *my* eyebrows?"  
  
Tielle grinned. "Your eyebrows are too light. They can't be seen, so it doesn't matter. But if you want something closer to your natural color." she ran a finger over the kits and pulled one out. "Here. 'Dark Sand.' It's a kind of dirty-blond."  
  
"Fine. Let's just get whatever we're getting and get out of here."  
  
"As you wish." They went to pay, only to realize they didn't have any money.  
  
"We don't have any money!" Tielle exclaimed remorsefully. "What are we going to do now?"  
  
"It's okay, you can go and withdraw some from a Galactic Bank. Your family does have money in a Galactic Bank, don't they?"  
  
"Of course they do," Tielle snapped impatiently. "But withdraws are traceable, you know, and to withdraw from my family's credit account, you have to prove that you are royalty and related to the king. It's a precaution, you see, to prevent someone from stealing our family's money, since Hidon is quite wealthy-"  
  
"Honey, did ah hear you talkin' about Hidon?" an old lady with a strange accent interrupted, causing Chayden to glance sharply at Tielle. Had she also overheard the mention of royalty?  
  
"Um, yes you did," Tielle replied carefully, obviously wondering the same thing.  
  
"Well, honey, ah hate to tell you, but all of Hidon's assets are frozen. You can't withdraw or deposit a credit. It's inaccessible."  
  
"What?" Tielle stared at the old, bent lady. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Ah mean that since Fareari invaded-"  
  
"Fareari invaded Hidon?" Tielle gasped, and Chayden slipped an arm around her waist to prevent her from collapsing.  
  
"Great glory, where have you been? Yeah, Fareari invaded Hidon. Early this morning. And now it's frozen all Hidon's assets. You can't touch any of the money."  
  
Tielle gaped at the woman.  
  
Chayden was furiously considering their situation. Tielle couldn't get them any money; could he? Possibly, but like Tielle said, withdraws were traceable, and he didn't want anyone on Fareari knowing where he was..  
  
They could sell their shuttle and everything in it, but then how would they get off this rock?  
  
But the more Chayden thought about it, the more he liked the idea of selling their ship. If his father instigated a full-fledged search for him, the shuttle was all that he had to go on, and the sooner it was sold, the better. And on Surlow it would not be a problem selling a stolen shuttle without the proper papers.  
  
"Sugar, what's your name?" The frail woman was asking Tielle gently, clearly feeling sympathy for this obvious Hidonian whose planet had just been invaded.  
  
"My name?" Tielle stuttered. "My name is.ah.Ella."  
  
"Ella? Such a plain name for one so beautiful," she muttered, then graciously said, "Ella, I can see that you are Hidonian and in hiding."  
  
"Ella" started to protest, and Chayden felt a rush of annoyance that this woman had figured out so quickly what they were attempting to hide.  
  
"Now, now," the woman quelled any arguments. "Your accent is obviously Hidonian, and that cloak shows me that you don't want to be recognized. Fair enough; heaven knows on Surlow we're all hiding from someone. And you can't access any money?"  
  
Tielle shook her head.  
  
"Come with me, then, you and your friend-" she shot a quick glance at Chayden "-and we'll get you something to eat."  
  
Tielle immediately agreed, showing characteristic refusal to think before acting. But Chayden didn't mind; this woman seemed harmless.  
  
"And what is your name?" Tielle asked the woman.  
  
The old lady considered that. "You can call me Jenai."  
  
**  
  
Jenai led them to a shabby, ill-kept apartment, where she apparently lived alone. That in itself explained the poor condition of the dwelling; Jenai was old and seemed to be suffering from arthritis. Arthritis was highly curable, and most planets gave all citizens over a certain age a shot to prevent it, but Surlow was not the type of planet to do such a thing, and doctors cost money. Tielle didn't think that Jenai had much money.  
  
She suddenly realized that she still had the two hair coloring kits in her hands. "Um, Jenai, we forgot to take these back." She held up the kits.  
  
"Oh, forget it, honey. The storeowner's an old friend; I'll pay him tomorrow."  
  
*Can you afford it?* Tielle thought dubiously.  
  
"We might as well use them, then," Chayden said as he leaned closer to her. "We don't want her recognizing us when we take our hoods off."  
  
Tielle nodded and asked where the washroom was. Jenai told her and then started banging around in the kitchen, attempting to make lunch.  
  
They entered the washroom, and Tielle tried hard to ignore its filth. "Okay, here we go." She ripped the Captivating Russet open and dumped it in her hair, watching in the mirror as the color literally crept down her hair, some settling and expanding, and some continuing farther down until it reached the bottom of her hair. She gave her head a toss and was surprised that none of the color fell out.  
  
"Well?" she raised an eyebrow at Chayden and looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't know. I think my natural color's better."  
  
"I think you look irresistible. Simply captivating," Chayden teased, then lowered his head to give her a quick kiss.  
  
Tielle pushed away. "As enjoyable as kissing you is, we still have to cut my hair and dye yours. Getting distracted and taking too long might make Jenai wonder."  
  
"Oh, I see. You're worried that Jenai will walk in on us kissing, which would ruin your respectability."  
  
"Well, yes I am. Even being seen with you is ruining my respectability. You're not a very respectable kind of guy."  
  
"Nope, I'm not. I'm a regular scoundrel, that's what I am."  
  
"And don't you forget it," Tielle laughed, enjoying their playful banter but ending it by finding a pair of incision-blades. "Here, take these," she handed them to Chayden, who looked at them and said, in a slightly panicked tone, "You want *me* to cut your hair?"  
  
"That's the idea."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Come on Chayden. Don't be a wimp. Show some backbone."  
  
"Hey, do you want to get a haircut or not?"  
  
"Then do it. Less talk and more action, P'ashara."  
  
He cut her hair far shorter than she could ever remember it being, but that was good, because if she couldn't remember it ever being that short, no one else would, right? But even that reasoning didn't stop her from feeling some sadness as she looked at her now-chin-length hair.  
  
Chayden dyed his hair the sandy-brown color and they returned to the kitchen, where Jenai served them a pale mush that Tielle supposed was one of those quick-fix meals for those who couldn't cook.  
  
Jenai hobbled over to her view-screen and turned it on, adjusting the frequencies until she got the right channel. "There," she said, satisfied, and in the dim light, Tielle strained to see it.  
  
It was a news channel, and the focus was on Hidon's invasion. News updates kept coming in, and the somber anchor was reeling off more news than Tielle could absorb in her dazed state. Finally a mention of her father came, and she pushed her plate aside and intently listened.  
  
"This just in from the palace on Hidon. we've just received news that Hidon's king, King Partini Satine, and his wife, Queen Shari, have been taken prisoner by Fareari troops." the anchor frowned. "And it seems that King Partini is ill and has fainted." 


	3. Jenai

Chapter Three- Jenai Exodus 1:11- "So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor.."  
  
*Father? Ill?* But her father was never ill, never sick. what could be wrong with him now?  
  
Chayden set down his eating utensils and took Tielle's hand comfortingly, silently saying he was sorry and also warning her to be careful. Tielle understood what he meant; Jenai would wonder if she displayed too much concern for Partini.  
  
Chayden quickly finished his meal and rose to his feet. "I'm going to go sell our shuttle," he declared. "I'll come back here when I'm done."  
  
Tielle numbly nodded, but Jenai asked, "Can you find your way back?"  
  
Chayden nodded and gave Tielle a quick squeeze on her shoulder. "I won't be gone long." He left.  
  
Jenai watched him leave, and then asked, "Hey Ella?"  
  
It took a moment for Tielle to realize that "Ella" was her. She had chosen the name because it combined the end of "Tielle" with the beginning of "Alaissyiss", her second name. "Yes?"  
  
"What's the name of your fellow there?"  
  
*Chayden?* For a moment Tielle panicked, but then she smoothly answered, "Jenai, you seem to realize that we are in hiding, and I don't know if he wants me to give out his name."  
  
Jenai considered that. "Ah understand." Then, "Where's he from?"  
  
"Again, I don't-"  
  
"A'right, a'right, ah won't ask you more of those kind of questions. But ah do know he's not from Hidon. His accent."  
  
Eager to keep Jenai from figuring out where he was from, Tielle asked, "How did you recognize my accent? Have you ever been to Hidon?"  
  
Jenai seemed to look at something that wasn't visible. "Once. a long, long time ago," she murmured. "It's such a beautiful planet. the mountains. and ah had such a wonderful time." she retreated into silence.  
  
Tielle didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.  
  
"So you're Hidonian, eh?" Jenai spoke again.  
  
"Well, yes, but I haven't been there in quite some time."  
  
That was true, but Tielle hoped that the elderly woman would think "quite some time" was years and not just months.  
  
"So you've been on the run for awhile?"  
  
Tielle shrugged modestly. *Actually, I haven't been on the run that long at all, I was just kidnapped by enemy royalty, held hostage as a bargaining chip between planets, almost assassinated by an unknown party, and tortured by a particularly despotic Farearian.* It almost sounded unbelievable to Tielle herself, and she had lived it.  
  
"What about you, Jenai? How'd you end up here?"  
  
Jenai looked at her, and Tielle got the feeling that she was debating how much of the truth she should tell her. "Being from Hidon, you probably don't like slavers too much, do ya honey?"  
  
Tielle didn't attempt to hide her contempt and disgust. "No. Slavery is a horrible, despicable practice, and the galaxy should eradicate it completely-"  
  
Jenai chuckled. "That's what ah think too. O' course, on Surlow, that's an opinion you wantin' to be keep quiet. They'll think you're a member of the SLF."  
  
"SLF?"  
  
"Slave Liberation Front. A bunch of people, just like you and me, dedicating their lives to rescuing slaves and bamboozling slavers." Here she chuckled again. "They're doin' a damn good job, too."  
  
Tielle was intrigued by this topic of conversation, both because the world Jenai lived in was so different from her own, and because she had started the conversation by asking how Jenai ended up on Surlow. What did slavery have to do with it?  
  
"Well, Ella, ah think ah can trust you, heaven knows why. Why ah would tell you what ah've hidden from others for years is a mystery to me, but ah'm going to do it anyway.  
  
"Ah grew up on Thaera. You ever heard of it?"  
  
"Yes." Studying Galactic History, Tielle had heard of many planets, but particularly those with monarchies like Thaera, as Hidon was a monarchy. Thaera's royals were revered more so than most others on other planets, and citizens believed them to be gods.  
  
"Well, growing up on Thaera, you have to have a certain respect for the king and queen, 'else you get in trouble. Ah never really bought into that whole god thing, but ah never told anyone that, 'cause it was considered blasphemy and treason.  
  
"Anyway, ah became a doctor with the main purpose of having an excuse to leave Thaera, as ah specialized in tropical diseases and there are no tropical regions in Thaera. So ah left and went to Faant, a jungle planet where tropical diseases are as common as colds on other planets. Ah worked with the poor and was surprised at how resigned they were in their pitiable state. They said that their god was taking care of them, and that was good enough for them.  
  
"Eventually they converted me to their religion, which ah believe is the same as on Hidon. And ah got married to another doctor who had been converted. He was from Thaera, and so after a honeymoon on Hidon, we returned to Thaera and to our families."  
  
Tielle had a feeling she knew what happened next, which, if she was right, explained why Jenai had brought up slavery and where her husband was. She only prayed that she was wrong.  
  
She interrupted the older woman. "Since we share the same religion, let me interrupt you for a moment just to say how happy I am to meet a fellow believer. I suspect that on Surlow, believers are few and far between."  
  
Jenai frowned. "Free ones are, anyway. But yes, believers are not something common on the streets of Surlow, and ah am glad to be able to talk with one. But let me continue: we returned to Thaera, and were promptly arrested and thrown into jail for being Religious Offenders. Ah later learned that my brother turned us in when he heard us praying before a meal." Her eyes clouded over for a moment, caught in the emotion of the memory, then cleared, and she continued in her monologue. "So we had a trial and were both found guilty of treason and blasphemy. We got sold as slaves and shipped off to Surlow, where ah was lucky enough to be rescued by the SLF. My husband, however, wasn't so lucky, and he remained a slave.  
  
"The SLF told me to get off of Surlow, go to some other planet, far away from slavers. But ah couldn't; my husband was still on Surlow. So ah stayed and tried to find a way to get my husband free too.  
  
"But ah couldn't, and he died a couple years ago." Here Jenai lapsed into a reflective silence, her eyes betraying how deeply even the memory affected her.  
  
After a somber silence in which Tielle let that all sink in, she spoke up. "Then why do you still live here, on Surlow?"  
  
Jenai looked up at the princess. " 'Cause I had a daughter after ah became a slave, and she is still trapped as a slave."  
  
**  
  
Klane Satine watched the newsholos from Shansire, secretly reveling in them. So Partini had fallen ill, had he? Others, he knew, had too, but they weren't important enough to make it onto the news. Soon though, they would. Soon the entire galaxy would hear of how a mysterious illness was striking the people of Hidon.  
  
And they wouldn't be able to find a cure.  
  
**  
  
In one of Surlow's many dim bars, Chayden managed to find a dealer in used spacecraft that was willing to take their small shuttle, no questions asked. Chayden was finding that no one asked many questions in Surlow because no one would give any answers and might just shoot you if you asked the wrong question.  
  
The old, crotchety man and Chayden went to the landing bay where the shuttle was waiting. "How much will you give me for it?"  
  
The man named a sum that made the prince's jaw fall open.  
  
"I need twice that!"  
  
Shrugging, the man replied, "Well, you may need it, but you won't get it. On Surlow, there's way too many ships and shuttles coming in on the black market that they just won't get a good price. Now, if you have papers and go to a legitimate dealer, you can get a better price." The old man eyed Chayden, knowing full well that that was out of the question.  
  
"Okay, but what about bartering? Could I trade this one in for something else?" Chayden was leery about getting a ship from off the black market, since either thieves or fugitives had used all those ships, but they were stripped down and changed, so they would work for his purposes.  
  
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps. What kind of a vessel are you looking for?"  
  
"A non-descript shuttle. Something that could be taken to a hundred different worlds and still fit in. And small. Only enough room for pilot, co-pilot, and maybe two passengers."  
  
"What kind of quality do you want?"  
  
Chayden considered. "Something that the average down-on-his-luck pilot would have. Not too good, but not too crappy."  
  
"I think I have just the shuttle you're looking for, mister. Come and take a look."  
  
Within another half an hour, the deal was finalized and Chayden had acquired the new shuttle. He breathed a sigh of relief as he headed back to Jenai's apartment, praying, *Thank you God that Tielle and I now have a way to get off of Surlow. Now could you please just show us where we should go?*  
  
**  
  
Millions of parsecs away from Surlow and Tielle and Chayden, the planet Hidon fell into darkness. Being occupied by Fareari was bad enough, but when King Partini fell ill, all Hidon started to worry.  
  
Their worry grew into panic as more and more people became ill. 


	4. Myll

Chapter Four- Myll Isaiah 13:8- "Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them.."  
  
The small planet of Diresh was unremarkable in many ways. It was a grassy plain world, flat and empty. It had no native inhabitants except for animals, a fact that surprised the people who had discovered the world, for its soil was very fertile and capable of supporting many crops, hence being an ideal world for humans to live and farm on.  
  
So eventually fugitives and adventurers had began to settle Diresh, setting up colonies that worked together to build homes and farm land.  
  
This system worked well for all those involved, and so many whom had no homes begun to flock to the planet, such as escaped slaves and criminals.  
  
One of who was Tesian Hamani. She had been tried and convicted as a Religious Offender on Thaera, sold to Kovan, and rescued there by the Slave Liberation Front. She had then considered joining the SLF, but had felt that that was not where she belonged, and instead had ended up on Diresh.  
  
In retrospect, that had been the right thing to do. She had joined a colony of religious criminals like herself, and there had married a wonderful man and settled into a life that fulfilled and contented her.  
  
Usually. But today. today something was different.  
  
Today? No, this unsettling feeling had started a while ago, and it persisted. Was it God? Was He trying to tell her something?  
  
*God?* She called out, looking across the flat prairies to the setting sun. *What is it?*  
  
She heard His reply. *Be prepared, for unto you I will send My answer to cries for deliverance.*  
  
*Deliverance? From what?*  
  
*Deliverance not unto you, but unto those who have upheld My word and have done what is right in My sight. For a fortnight they have been handed to evil, but they will be delivered by My hand.*  
  
*Your answer to cries to deliverance? What is Your answer?*  
  
The voice pulled away but Tesian heard its fading echo. *A family of Mine. Protect them, daughter. Do not let harm come unto them.*  
  
"I won't, Lord. But tell me more. Who am I to protect? Who, Lord? Who is this family that will deliver Your people?"  
  
She received no answer, only a *Protect them*, the words sounding distant and far away, like they had come from a great distance.  
  
**  
  
Over the next few days, Tielle and Chayden spent their time looking over possible planets to go to, as well as watching the newsholos extremely closely.  
  
Hidon was the top story of most newcasts, and became even more so as reports of an epidemic came. Supposedly this illness had one of ten Hidonians sick and lying unconscious in medwards all around the planet.  
  
The medics would be doing as much as they could, Tielle knew, but with the Farearian invasion, Hidon would not be getting its medical supplies to properly treat the ten percent of the population that was ill.  
  
King Partini's condition worsened, and Tielle grew weary of watching the depressing accounts, finally just refusing to pay attention to the newsholos. Instead she spent all her time looking at planets.  
  
Sighing, she blinked bleary eyes and sipped her drink, trying to keep herself awake to look at the maps. Sleep brought only nightmares -about Hidon, about Fareari, about her parents, about Arilana, about all her other deceased siblings, about everything- and so she avoided going to bed and instead used her time to search for a planet.  
  
Shayni? No, it was too populated and prosperous. Chayden had a price on his head and would too easily be found there.  
  
Okay, what about the Twins, Sab Kaal and Sab Tahn, just past Shayni? Both were small worlds, generally ignored by the rest of the galaxy.  
  
But they were on the Quonan Trade Spine. Tielle sighed. Any planet on a major trade route like the Quonan Trade Spine just generated too much traffic and even if Sab Kaal or Sab Tahn didn't care about the outside galaxy, people coming to trade from Ratidu, Matill or Quona did, and they would surely recognize Chayden or Tielle.  
  
Tielle closed her eyes for just a moment. Was there a planet perfect for her and Chayden's purposes? She was beginning to doubt it. They'd looked at hundreds of planets, and none of them had been suitable. Would any of the next hundred be any better?  
  
The princess aroused herself from her bout of pessimism and opened her eyes. Sighing, she keyed in the command to move the map's focus, farther out on the edge of the galaxy.  
  
And there she saw Diresh. She clicked on the planet and scanned its stats and history, sitting a little straighter when she realized what she had found.  
  
"Hey Chayden! Wake up! I've found it!"  
  
**  
  
King Faihn sat in the Hidonian throne room, admiring the fine architecture and craftsmanship of the ornately decorated room. It was really a wonder, this planet. Too bad it was plagued with a nasty virus that none of his specialists seemed to be able to identify.  
  
The medics claimed that they could not identify the disease because of its widespread symptoms. Some people lost their hearing; others got flu-like symptoms. Some became extremely uncoordinated; others' skin became red and painful, almost like sunburn. There was just no common thread to this disease, except for the fact that eventually all its victims went into a coma.  
  
That caused a frown to mar the king's features. Really, he had enough to deal with a renegade son, escaped captive princess, recently invaded planet and disgruntled former royals of that planet without adding a mysterious illness to the list.  
  
But the illness *had* proved effective for shutting Partini up. Faihn no longer had to deal with that annoyance, so perhaps he should be thankful.  
  
But it was disconcerting to know that this disease could infect him. So far his specialists didn't even know how it was transmitted, making avoiding it a challenge. Was it spread through air? Fluids? Nobody knew.  
  
"Your Highness," a medical specialist approached the throne.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"As you know, we've been monitoring the k-, uh, Partini Satine, as he was one of the first known cases of this illness. And when I say monitoring, I mean monitoring *everything*. Everything from brain activity to body temperature to eyelid movement. We'd be counting the number of sneezes he sneezed if these patients made any sort of movement once they're comatose. We are monitoring everything, and we've found something disturbing."  
  
Faihn leaned forward. The discovery may be disturbing, but it would be the first bit of progress they'd made in all this time, working around the clock. "Yes? What is it?"  
  
The young medic held out a chart that Faihn didn't understand. "We've been monitoring Satine's brain activity since he fell ill, a week ago. And very, very slowly, less and less brainwaves have been transmitted from the brain to the rest of the body. Why?" The medic pointed at his chart, brimming with excitement at having made the discovery. "If you look here, in the brain stem and farther up, in the cerebellum, the area that controls coordination, and medulla oblongata, which controls swallowing, breathing, heartbeat and other such functions, these areas are darker than the rest of the brain." The medic looked up from his chart and looked at Faihn. "We believe that is the virus itself, Your Highness. It directly attacks and kills brain cells.  
  
"This accounts for the different symptoms of the victims. This virus doesn't always start to grow in one spot, and so it causes varying symptoms in each victim, depending on where it starts to grow. In Satine's case, it started in the brain stem, causing him to lose consciousness without any warning. Then it moved into the cerebellum and the medulla oblongata, and when it moved into the medulla oblongata, we started to notice decreased brain activity, because it is usually so active, making sure that the body breathes, swallows and such."  
  
"So what can you do with this information? Can you stop the virus? Vaccinate against it? Prevent it from growing?"  
  
The medic shook his head. "No, Your Highness, we can't. We don't know anything else about this disease, but this news is very disturbing and shows that we are dealing with a very deadly epidemic."  
  
"It does?" The disease didn't sound that bad to him. Just cut it out or radiate it, or something.  
  
The medic's excitement was replaced by a sense of fear. "It shows that this disease is deadly for two reasons. One is that some who have this virus may not know it if it attacks, say, an elderly woman in the region that controls hearing. She's already old and can't hear very well, so family will just think that her hearing is getting worse, until the virus spreads to attack sensory brain tissue, causing the woman's senses of taste, touch, warmth and coolness to become nonexistent. From there it might spread to the region that controls the woman's hands and fingers, so that she can't move them. And what if the family just thinks it's arthritis and comes to get treatment for arthritis, when really it's our mysterious illness, Myll."  
  
"Myll?"  
  
"What the medics are calling it for lack of a better name. First part of mysterious and illness combined."  
  
"I see." Faihn didn't really care what the virus was called, he just wanted it cured! But he didn't say that. Instead he asked, "What is the other reason that this disease is so frightening?"  
  
The medic's sense of fear increased so much that Faihn shut off his sense that let him feel others' emotions. "The other reason that this is a very disturbing disease is that it cannot be stopped. We can't stop it from killing brain cells and tissue. There is nothing we can do."  
  
Faihn waited for the rest as the young man swallowed and breathed heavily. *Nothing wrong with *his* medulla oblongata,* the king thought scornfully.  
  
"There is nothing we can do," the medic continued, "to stop Myll from killing the brain tissue, and once it is killed, it will not grow back.  
  
"Any region of the brain that Myll attacks will not recover."  
  
**  
  
Okay, I'd really like some reviews for this story. I know it's pretty early in the story and there's not that much to review, but please give me some feedback! I'd love to hear your comments and constructive criticism! 


	5. Nightmares

Chapter Five- Nightmares Genesis 28:12- "He had a dream...."  
  
It was a tearful send-off. Jenai and Tielle had obviously grown close during their days together, for reasons Chayden didn't understand. Tielle had said that the older woman had confided in her, telling her private things that had made them become close. Tielle had not said what those private things were, and Chayden understood that he was not to ask. It was between Tielle and Jenai, not him.  
  
"Goodbye, Jenai," Tielle hugged the bent woman, who smiled through her tears. The smile lightened her features, and for the first time Chayden realized that she wasn't as old as he had thought. Instead of sixty or seventy, she was probably only forty or fifty.  
  
What had she seen that had aged her so? Perhaps that was what Tielle knew.  
  
"Ah'll keep you both in my prayers," Jenai replied. "But ah know we'll meet again. This isn't goodbye."  
  
"Truly? How do you know that?"  
  
Jenai just smiled. "Ah just do. Now, hurry and go, before ah change my mind and make you stay here with me."  
  
Tielle smiled sadly and stepped back, reluctant to go. Chayden moved towards her and slipped an arm around her waist for moral support. She looked up at him, tears clinging to her long eyelashes, and thanked him with her eyes.  
  
They quickly walked to the spaceport, not wanting to be out in public any longer than necessary. While nobody was looking for Tielle, the price on Chayden's head was quite exorbitant, and many would be searching for him.  
  
Ominous thunderclouds hung oppressively in the distance, and the part of Chayden that was superstitious became uneasy. Were these dark clouds a sign of something to come?  
  
Tielle glanced up at him and squeezed his hand. "Stop your worrying."  
  
He smiled. "What makes you think I'm worrying? Are you sure *you're* not gene-altered?"  
  
"Yeah, right. No, it's just the look you get on your face. You can't hide any of your emotions; they're always broadcasted on your face."  
  
"Oh yeah? What am I thinking now?" He concentrated on how beautiful she was.  
  
She blushed, and Chayden seriously considered the thought that she *was* gene-altered. "You're thinking about me. Something good about me. I can tell because of the way the lines around your eyes soften and your mouth curves into an almost-smile." She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "But when you're frustrated with me, the lines around your eyes and your mouth harden."  
  
"When have I ever been frustrated with you?"  
  
They stepped into the spaceport, where all sorts of disreputable-looking people milled about by the dozens. "Well, there was the time you tried to drag me out of that pit I lived in in the Hidden Fortress, and I wouldn't go as easily as you wanted me to, because I was stubborn and suspicious of your intentions."  
  
Chayden laughed. "You're still stubborn."  
  
She glared at him.  
  
**  
  
They strapped into their seats in the cockpit of their small spaceship, the Renegade. Chayden thought the name was appropriate for them, but Tielle seemed dazed and not at all in any state to appreciate the irony.  
  
"Tielle? Are you okay?"  
  
She snapped out of her reverie. "Yeah, I'm fine. Everything's great. I was just thinking about Jenai, that's all." She looked down at the controls of the ship. "Okay, you ready to leave this poor excuse for a planet?"  
  
"You bet. Let's get going."  
  
They quickly entered the planet's atmosphere and disappeared into light- space.  
  
**  
  
Tielle released the controls of the ship and leaned back in the cushioned co-pilot's seat. Fatigue tickled at the edge of her consciousness, but she refused to succumb to it. *I can sleep later,* she firmly told herself. *Right now I have to talk with Chayden.*  
  
She whirled around in her chair to face the prince- no, he wasn't a prince anymore, he was a fugitive now, disowned from his family- and forced energy into her tone, futile as it was. Chayden could sense her exhaustion.  
  
She pushed it away once again. "Okay, so what's our story?"  
  
His brow furrowed in confusion. "Our story?"  
  
She sighed. For such an educated being, he could be incredibly dense at times. "Yeah, we've got to have a story. Who we are, why we've moved to Diresh.."  
  
He caught on. "Oh. Right. Any ideas?"  
  
She considered. For a fleeting moment she thought about posing as husband and wife, but quickly discarded that idea. It would not be comfortable for either her or Chayden, and eyebrows might be raised when the young couple didn't even sleep together.  
  
*Okay, then. What about brother and sister?*  
  
The idea had merit, and the more Tielle thought about it, the more she liked it.  
  
"Spit it out," Chayden demanded, obviously sensing that she had a plan.  
  
"What about brother and sister?" she suggested, watching Chayden for clues of what he thought.  
  
Looking dubious, he asked, "Of what planet?"  
  
Thinking fast, Tielle replied, "Fareari. Yeah, Fareari! We can pretend that we've become believers and have had to leave, or else we'd be tried for blasphemy!"  
  
Still unconvinced, Chayden pointed out, "You have a Hidonian accent."  
  
"So? I can speak with a Farearian accent." She tested it out. "See, it's not that hard. I sound Farearian."  
  
"I guess. But can you do that whenever someone else is around, with every word you say?"  
  
Impulsively reaching for one of his hands, Tielle pleaded, "Please. This is our only chance, but if you don't think I can do it, then teach me how. And teach me about Fareari. Everything about Fareari, so that I'm like a true Farearian, so that no one will ever suspect."  
  
Chayden chuckled. "You could never be a Farearian. You're too independent and uncompromising."  
  
"Oh, and Hristen isn't?"  
  
"He's royalty. He's allowed to be borderline disrespectful. Normal civilians, however, cannot be."  
  
"Oh, so I'm not good enough to be Farearian? I'm not good enough for you? Fine." Tielle leaned far back into her seat and pretended to pout.  
  
Chayden released a weary sigh. "Fine. I'll teach you about Fareari. Happy now?"  
  
Tielle grinned at him, but the smile quickly became a yawn.  
  
"Great. Now go get some sleep before you collapse."  
  
**  
  
Chayden felt the turmoil and horror radiating from Tielle's quarters before he heard the screams.  
  
"Ari! No! Stop it! Leave her alone! No!" She shrieked loudly as Chayden quickly dashed to her room and opened the door. "Uncle! Stop it! Father!"  
  
Chayden crossed the tiny room in two short strides as Tielle cried out, "Matani! Thoena! Erete! Don't!" He gently shook her from her restless sleep and smoothed the covers that she had thrown into disarray. "Tielle," he whispered gently, "Tielle, it's okay."  
  
She woke up and recoiled away from him, terror written on her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Shh," Chayden soothed, "You were having a nightmare, but it's alright now. You're safe."  
  
"No," Tielle replied dully. "I'm not safe, because my nightmare wasn't a nightmare. It was the truth, and when the truth is more horrible then any nightmare, you know you're in trouble."  
  
She still looked tired, but her words were those of someone completely clear-headed and not at all disoriented from waking up. It unnerved Chayden.  
  
"Tielle, it's okay. You're safe now. Everything's going to be okay."  
  
"Will it?" Tielle challenged him. "When? When whoever killed Arilana is dead and can no longer come after me? When your family stops trying to hunt you down? When the epidemic on my homeworld is cured? When, Chayden? I need to know, for I grow weary of not being safe, of living in uncertainty."  
  
Again her words chilled the fugitive, and he struggled for words to placate her. "But that's not right. We don't live in uncertainty. God is always certain."  
  
That seemed to console Tielle, and she lay back down, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Chayden," she said quietly, "can you stay with me until I fall asleep and wake me up if I start screaming again? I have to beat these nightmares."  
  
Chayden nodded in the semi-darkness and was surprised when Tielle held out a hand. He grasped it firmly, watching as her eyelids fluttered and she fell into sleep.  
  
Their hands tightly clasped, the princess slept, and this time no nightmares plagued her slumber. 


	6. Becoming a Farearian

Chapter Six- Becoming a Farearian Psalm 143:10- "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.."  
  
Queen Tenia of Ziex had extended an invitation for Klane to stay on Ziex until Faihn lost occupation of Hidon and its plague subsided. Klane had accepted the invitation and kept mostly to himself, devouring the newsholos in all his spare time.  
  
The news that his brother was lying infirm with Myll was welcome news, but the devious grand duke noticed that any news of his niece, the Crown Princess Tielle, was strangely absent from the news reports. It had already been confirmed that Princess Arilana was dead at the hand of an unknown assassin, but her older sister's fate remained unknown.  
  
Klane suspected that she was no longer Faihn's hostage, and his suspicion was strengthened when he looked into and found that there was a bounty on Prince Chayden P'ashara's royal head. The prince was eighteen, a mere year younger than Tielle, and Klane suspected that the prince had helped Tielle escape and then left with her, no doubt mesmerized by her captivating beauty.  
  
So Klane had quietly started a galaxy-wide search for his niece, hoping to find her and rid himself of one more nuisance.. .  
  
**  
  
On Hidon, the epidemic spread and worsened. Faihn became seriously concerned about contracting the disease himself, and started to practice extreme hygiene, not wanting this still-incurable illness.  
  
But if the threat of a potentially fatal disease bothered the Farearian king, he became extremely aggravated by the monotheist Hidonians and their unceasing petitions to their god. It seemed they were all always praying for not only Hidon's deliverance from Myll, but also for their precious Crown Princess Tielle's return to Hidon. As optimistic as they seemed to be about Hidon's rescue from Myll, they seemed to harbor no such illusions about their king, whose condition worsened daily. So they prayed for the princess over and over again. And again.  
  
It reminded Faihn of his meddlesome boy and the on-going search for the traitor. His so-calleì¥Á7 ð¿k bjbjUU ".7|7|kÿÿÿÿÿÿlæææææææb[pic] $b[pic]ç ¶H H H H H H H H f [?]h h h h h h $? [?]½ ? æH H H H H ? ' ææH H ¡ ' ' ' H ¾æH æH f ' H f ' Ô' f ææf H E-'ÙvuÂ[pic]b[pic]ª |  
  
'f f · 0ç f ]^ ]f ' ú6[pic],ææææ[?]ÙChapter Six- Becoming a Farearian Psalm 143:10- "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.."  
  
Queen Tenia of Ziex had extended an invitation for Klane to stay on Ziex until Faihn lost occupation of Hidon and its plague subsided. Klane had accepted the invitation and kept mostly to himself, devouring the newsholos in all his spare time.  
  
The news that his brother was lying infirm with Myll was welcome news, but the devious grand duke noticed that any news of his niece, the Crown Princess Tielle, was strangely absent from the news reports. It had already been confirmed that Princess Arilana was dead at the hand of an unknown assassin, but her older sister's fate remained unknown.  
  
Klane suspected that she was no longer Faihn's hostage, and his suspicion was strengthened when he looked into and found that there was a bounty on Prince Chayden P'ashara's royal head. The prince was eighteen, a mere year younger than Tielle, and Klane suspected that the prince had helped Tielle escape and then left with her, no s, enough to get by, as well as a plausible knowledge of current politics-"  
  
"Most of which concern the disownment of the traitor Chayden P'ashara and the rightful occupation of Hidon," Tielle muttered in true Farearian fashion.  
  
"- and the ingrained information about the royal family-"  
  
"About all thirteen of the children, their spouses and children, likes, dislikes, talents, aspirations, occupations, habits, opinions-"  
  
"Plus the traditions, ceremonies, rituals and customs of typical Farearians." Chayden sighed, his handsome features marred by his distraught expression. "There's only your accent to work on."  
  
Tielle jutted out her chin. "Then let's work on it," she said, annunciating each word as a real Farearian would.  
  
**  
  
Twenty hours later, Tielle prepared for their descent into Diresh's atmosphere and her descent into a whole new persona. *I am Ella Raynani,* she repeated over and over to herself, *sister of Chayn Raynani, daughter of Kyrone and Theana Raynani, two traditionalists who disowned us when they discovered we didn't believe in their gods..*  
  
*I am a fugitive, poor and desperate to start over. I don't want to be found, I want to remain unnoticed and unfound by my parents.."  
  
Tielle repeated the words over and over again to herself, perfectly imitating the Farearian accent even in her mind. *I am Ella Raynani, sister of Chanh Raynani..*  
  
It was going to be hard to be able to let go of her photographic memory and pretend that it didn't exist. She could not recount conversations word for word, and she would have to get used to pretending she didn't know where she had placed something, just to appear normal.  
  
But perhaps hardest of all was going to be pretending that she was gene- altered and could sense emotions. She was going to have to observe every little body language clue, from a tense posture to a muscle jerking in someone's cheek. This was going to be a challenge.  
  
Mostly, however, she would just have to rely on Chayden and get her clues from him, for he *would* know what everyone was feeling. She would have to take her cue from him.  
  
Chayden didn't seem to be as tense as she was about the whole issue, but then, he wasn't the one pretending to be of a different planet. He just had to remember that his name was Chayn and that she was his sister.  
  
Chayden calmly went about landing the shuttle, looking completely unconcerned, while Tielle fretted. Sure, she had a photographic memory to help her remember facts and figures, charts and maps, but could it help her to remember to turn when "Ella" was being called? Could it help her speak like a Farearian, all day every day?  
  
She was about to find out.  
  
**  
  
As a nondescript, unordinary shuttle docked in the landing bays in Paeona, Diresh's capital (and only) city, hundreds of miles away, Tesian Hamani knelt in prayer, reciting her prayer:  
  
*Lord, help me to do your will and let not the evil one influence my decisions. May I only do as You wish me to do, and may You let me know what that is.* She continued on in that vein for a while longer, then reverently said, "Amen."  
  
She had not even risen from her knees when she heard a voice that said, *Go to Paeona.* 


	7. Kismet

Chapter Seven- Kismet Genesis 12:1- "..go to the land I will show you."  
  
For what seemed to be the twentieth time in the last five minutes, Tielle let out a small, almost inaudible sigh from beside Chayden, and although the sighs themselves were annoying, the boredom and exasperation that accompanied them were almost enough to drive Chayden insane.  
  
Chayden realized that the seamy spaceport bar wasn't perhaps the most preferable place to look over Diresh's holomaps, but it was free and they could take as much time as they wanted. Plus buy some drinks with their limited money.  
  
Tielle glanced over at Chayden. "Chanh, am I bothering you with my boredom?" she innocently asked, playing her role perfectly.  
  
It was Chayden's turn to sigh. "Usually you wouldn't be, but I'm tired, and you know how I am when I'm tired." Of course, she didn't really, but his sister would have.  
  
Tielle nodded sympathetically. "It's just I'm so bored. Let me look at the holomaps."  
  
He obediently handed them over and absentmindedly sipped his drink, the tangy liquid causing a slight burning sensation in his mouth. He made a face and wondered why he'd taken the bartender's recommendation for the "most popular drink in these parts." The bartender had declared that everyone loved it.  
  
He looked at Tielle's glass. She had been smart and chosen a light wine.  
  
In a rare moment of mischief, he quickly reached over and switched their glasses.  
  
Tielle didn't notice, focusing on the holomaps. Chayden grinned; a real Farearian would have instantly questioned why she didn't notice his sudden humorous sense and look up.  
  
But she didn't. She did, however, ask, "Okay. So what are we looking for here?"  
  
"All the red dots. Each is a small colony that we could join."  
  
She frowned again. "But there's so many of them! How are we supposed to choose which one to go to?"  
  
Chayden shrugged and took a sip from his new drink. Now *this* was an improvement. "Geographic location, I guess, is one thing. Look at places near water, main roads, that sort of thing."  
  
The redhead- oh, nope, now she was auburn -sighed and shut the small device off, setting it down on the bar's counter. "There's too many. How are we going to decide on one?"  
  
Chayden shrugged again, hoping she'd take a sip of his drink. "Divine intervention, I guess."  
  
"Divine intervention," Tielle grumbled. "If God's so divine, He should know that I don't have any patience and He'd better hurry up." She took her glass and took a long drink from it, then started to cough. She set the glass down, still coughing, and Chayden started to laugh as tears came to her eyes. "What did you do to my drink?" she gasped, the tears cascading down her cheeks.  
  
Chayden grinned. "Nothing. It still tastes quite fine, and I'm enjoying it immensely."  
  
Tielle examined the liquid in front of her. "Chay- Chanh, you are-"  
  
"Extremely handsome? Intriguing interesting? Amazingly witty?"  
  
"-so dumb!"  
  
The response disappointed Chayden until he remembered that he was her older brother and that flirting was not an activity that most siblings did with each other.  
  
He slid her glass back across the counter to her. "Here you go. Enjoy what's left."  
  
She glanced in the cup and glared at him. "Which is almost nothing."  
  
He shrugged. "I'm paying."  
  
**  
  
Gen Inhana- Jenai -looked out her window that evening and wondered where "Ella" was. And her handsome young man. She'd never learned the name of him, she thought suddenly, but the realization didn't bother her as much as it could have. She'd learn his name one day, she was sure.  
  
How she knew that, she didn't know, but she knew it as sure as she knew that the sun would rise the next day. Her intuitions had always been correct, even as a young girl, and they were something that she had learned not to doubt.  
  
She sighed. The one time she had doubted her feelings had been the downfall of her family. She had known something was wrong with her brother, her gut had told her that something was going on, but she had ignored it, and it had led to the enslavement of her family, and ultimately the death of her husband.  
  
But the galaxy did not leave much time for those who dwelled on the past and who wallowed in regrets. The galaxy was for those who looked to the future, seeing and making things better for the galaxy and for themselves.  
  
Those like Ella. Gen had a peculiar feeling that she, with her man alongside, would make things a lot better for someone, somewhere..  
  
Gen shook her head and dismissed that notion as fanciful. Ella was obviously some sort of criminal, in hiding and running from someone. What kind of a difference could a fugitive make?  
  
None. Gen, a fugitive for years, still had been unable to change her daughter's life and get her out of the hell called slavery. Perhaps she never would. Perhaps a fugitive couldn't.  
  
**  
  
Tesian Hamani looked around the spaceport and wondered by all the stars what she was doing there.  
  
Her husband had thought her crazy to simply decide to up and come to Paeona, but she couldn't really blame him. She herself was wondering whether or not she was crazy.  
  
Sighing, she looked to the overcast sky. *What am I doing here, Lord?*  
  
No resounding voice came. No quiet inspiration. No firm instructions. No magnificent omen.  
  
But it did start to rain.  
  
Tesian headed for the nearest shelter, the spaceport. She ducked inside, shaking the water from her long hair, and went for the nearest place to sit down, a small bar tucked into a corner. It was fairly empty, it being the middle of the afternoon, and Tesian found a stool a couple feet away from a young couple that were intently looking at a holomap.  
  
"I just don't know," the girl said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I give up. You decide."  
  
"Sure, let your brother do all the work," her brother sighed, but he took the holo from her and examined it. "I don't know either. Close your eyes and point at one."  
  
"Sure, let's put lots of thought into a decision as important as this one," the girl remarked dryly, her strange accent making the words sound ominous.  
  
"Ah, it's only a home. Who really cares?"  
  
"*I* care, that's who. I don't want to go live in some dump somewhere."  
  
Tesian suddenly remembered God's words. *A family of Mine. Protect them, daughter.* She looked at the couple more closely; the brother was a handsome dirty-blond, with a square jaw and blue eyes; the sister was curvy and slim-figured with chin-length curly reddish-brown hair. *Is this them?*  
  
*Yes,* a voice responded to her unspoken question. *This is whom you seek.*  
  
Gathering all her courage, Tesian slid off her stool and ventured over to the pair. "Excuse me," she said, and they turned and fixed intense eyes on her, "but are you looking for a place to live?" 


	8. A New Home

Chapter Eight- A New Home  
  
Exodus 15:13- "In your strength you will guide them to their holy dwelling."  
  
The ride to Kansoth, the colony where Tesian Hamani lived, was an awkward one.  
  
And for all of Tielle's lessons on etiquette and making small talk, she couldn't think of a thing to say. What did you say to someone who approached you and asked if you were looking for somewhere to live, because they had a place ready?  
  
Chayden seemed to be at a similar loss for words, and Tesian wasn't saying much, only concentrating on driving the hover-car, which was a slightly outdated model that most worlds had stopped using. Tielle applauded herself on being able to look at the model and realize that without going into hysterics; Chayden's presence seemed to dispel any phobia of hover-cars that she had once had.  
  
Diresh, Tielle decided, was quite possibly one of the most boring planets to look at. There was nothing remarkable or unusual about its flat, grassy prairies, and although Tielle was sure the fertile soil and landscape was wonderful for farming, it did nothing to add any interest to the long and already boring trip.  
  
Tielle tried to compose herself and think about what a perky Farearian might say. "Well," she said, drawing the second syllable out, "I guess you might want to know a bit more about us, considering as we're going to be living in your community." She smiled at Tesian. "I know you already know our names, but that's not much to go on, so I guess I can tell you a bit more."  
  
She breathed deeply and then jumped into her practiced history. "We're from Fareari, from its capital city, Citaege, actually. And Chanh here isn't my only brother; there's six children in our family."  
  
"Six?" Tesian glanced up. "Where are the other four?"  
  
"At home, on Fareari," Chayden replied, having turned away from Diresh's magnificent landscape. "We're the two oldest and decided to set out on our own."  
  
"And come to Diresh?" Tesian chuckled. "There's not much here for two young adults like yourselves."  
  
**  
  
Tesian didn't know about this whole thing. Why were these two here? It didn't make any sense; why would a young brother and sister come to Diresh of all places? Sure, there was lots of opportunity if you wanted to farm, but other than that, this was not exactly a booming place.  
  
And it didn't look as though either of them had ever done a day's work in their lives. Absent was the perpetual tan that all those who worked outside possessed, and neither of them, especially the girl, Ella, had the rough hands of those who were used to manual labor.  
  
Although the girl did have bruises and scratches on her face. Tesian vaguely wondered if the marks continued down her torso and onto her arms and legs, but then wondered why such an obviously beautiful girl would have such abrasions all over her body. It didn't make sense.  
  
"Well," Ella continued, reminding Tesian that she had asked a question, "we. we didn't want to be found."  
  
Tesian frowned. Just who had she taken in? Criminals? Fugitives? Was this seemingly harmless couple really a pair of thugs who were going to mug her?  
  
She shook away such thoughts. Highly doubtful. She had nothing of value. "If you didn't want to be found, you've come to the right place. This planet's nothing but a haven for people who don't want to found."  
  
"But mostly religious criminals, right? Those who are willing to work hard, and not criminals like those who flock to such planets as, say, Surlow."  
  
"Oh, heavens no!" Tesian exclaimed. "No, there are no murderers and crimelords here, if that's what you're asking. It is mostly religious criminals." She paused, and then said, "I'm a religious criminal."  
  
The two gaped at her, and she slowed the hover-car's pace and then pushed one sleeve up, revealing a tattoo with the inscription RO. "I was a Religious Offender on Thaera."  
  
**  
  
Chayden stared at the tattoo, hardly believing that this woman had been a slave. what a horrible practice, and to enslave people for believing what was true.. He shook his head and replied, "Well then, I feel comfortable telling you that we're believers also."  
  
The older woman smiled. "That's good to hear. Everyone at the colony will be glad to have other believers join us." She frowned then, a thought coming to her. "But aren't Farearians generally pagans, believing in more than one god?"  
  
Chayden was impressed by her knowledge of galactic religions and that she would know such a thing; most wouldn't. The galaxy was simply too large to know about every planet. "Yes, that's correct, and that's why we're here. Our family disowned us and was going to have us arrested, although we wouldn't become slaves, like on Thaera. We'd just be imprisoned for an indefinite time."  
  
"I see," Tesian nodded and glanced at the hover-car's timepiece. "We've got about ten minutes until we reach Kansoth."  
  
*Ten minutes,* Chayden thought, glancing over at Tielle, who was vibrating nervousness. *Ten minutes until we face our future and our future together.*  
  
**  
  
Thirty minutes after the strangers had arrived, Shaina Ontine and her friends met at the small creek running just past the colony and compared notes.  
  
"I heard they're dangerous criminals that want a second chance," one girl declared, leading another to say, "Well, that guy could steal my heart anytime he wanted."  
  
Everyone giggled, and another said, "But that girl with him? Who's she? His wife?"  
  
"I think so," another replied glumly. "That's what I heard."  
  
"Oh, nonsense," Rashea, the most sensible of the group, said. "My mom brought them in, and *she* said they're brother and sister. Chanh and Ella Raynani are their names."  
  
"Good," Shaina smoothly interjected, speaking for the first time. "That means I won't have any competition." She gave a hard look to everyone around the circle, leaving no doubt as to what she meant.  
  
Rashea threw her hands up. "Don't look at me. I don't want him."  
  
"Me neither," another girl piped up, and soon all the girls were agreeing that the mysterious stranger didn't appeal to them.  
  
"Perfect," Shaina purred, standing up. She smiled and tossed her long, glorious blond hair, letting everyone know who was the most beautiful there and who would win any contest for any man.  
  
And with her figure, it was true. Full, voluptuous curves in all the right places supported a backless dress that, while unpractical for farm living, was ideal for emphasizing her faultless body and slender build. Full, ruby red lips that worked together with sultry violet eyes to make a perpetually suggestive expression further added to her sex appeal, and Shaina knew that she was a rare gem on this world of fields and farmers. She was a rose among weeds, a diamond among rocks.  
  
"Perfect," she repeated, smiling indolently. "Because Chanh Raynani is going to be mine."  
  
**  
  
Myll spread. And spread. And spread. The medics on Hidon were helpless to stop it, and could only watch as their people spiraled to death.  
  
As the situation worsened, Prince Kall on Shansire considered whether or not he wanted to marry onto the sickened planet. King Faihn of Fareari questioned whether or not he should stay on Hidon or just let them all die.  
  
And perhaps most importantly, Grand Duke Klane Satine wondered whether or not he should end Hidon's misery and produce a cure.  
  
But he decided not to. How would that benefit him? It would only if King Faihn left.....  
  
So the one person who knew how to stop the death of millions, perhaps billions, sat back and thought about where in the galaxy his niece might be..... 


	9. Events Are Set in Motion

Chapter Nine- Events Are Set in Motion Deuteronomy 7:2- ".then you must destroy them totally."  
  
Tielle and Chayden settled into their small dwelling- Tielle couldn't bring herself to call it a *house*, although it was far better than any of her homes in the past month -and spent a few days resting and physically and mentally recovering from their ordeal. Finally, they could rest without fear. Finally.  
  
Each morning they slept in, and would rise and get breakfast for themselves. On their third morning on Diresh, Tielle woke first and prepared a simple breakfast for herself, opening the windows and letting the warm breeze blow over her as the meal simmered on the stove.  
  
*Oh God,* she prayed, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly thankful, *thank You for bringing us to this place, where we are safe. Thank You for Tesian and her kindness. Thank You for everything, and just guide our paths and help us figure out where we go from here.*  
  
After a quick breakfast, Tielle washed up and prepared to venture into the small colony for the first time. She was eager to meet and learn about the people who had so willingly opened their home to her.  
  
Chayden was still sleeping when she left- he had proven to sleep into the afternoon when giving the chance, and although he would soon have to rise early to go work in the fields, for now Tielle let him sleep.  
  
Children were playing in the one dusty street that ran through the colony, and they all gazed up at her with open curiosity. "You're the lady that just got here three days ago," one child breathed in awe, and Tielle smiled at him.  
  
"Yes, I am," she replied, even remembering her Farearian accent. "My name is Ella."  
  
"My name is Cariele and you talk funny," a girl piped up, and Tielle chuckled slightly.  
  
"I talk funny because I'm from another planet," Tielle explained patiently. "My homeworld is Fareari."  
  
"My dad hates Fareari," another girl declared. "He says it's a planet of sinful, arrogant idolaters." The girl jutted her chin out stubbornly, and Tielle bit her lip and prayed that they wouldn't have to deal with prejudice.  
  
A teenager ran up to Tielle then, saving her from having to find a response. "Ella?"  
  
Tielle smiled at the brunette. "Yes?"  
  
"My name's Rashea," the girl explained, and Tielle wondered how old she was. Perhaps only a year or two younger than Tielle herself. "I'm Tesian's daughter."  
  
"Oh, then it's a pleasure to meet you. Your mother was a lifesaver."  
  
Rashea laughed. "We all thought Mom was going crazy when she up and said she was going to Paeona. Then she comes home and brings you two.."  
  
"And now after looking at us, you probably think she's even more crazy," Tielle teased, and the younger girl laughed.  
  
"Well, the reason I ran over to you is that Mom told me to give you the tour of the place once you were ready."  
  
"Well then, lead the way," Tielle said, smiling at the girl and somehow knowing that she had found a friend.  
  
**  
  
After her tour, Tielle accepted Rashea's invitation to lunch at the Hamanis' home, and Chayden even managed to wake up and join them. They enjoyed a leisurely home-cooked meal and conversation.  
  
Tielle, being "Farearian" and deciding that asking about Fareari's occupation of Hidon didn't reveal her as a Hidionian, casually asked about the state of Hidon.  
  
"Well," Tesian slowly replied, "our news is always a week old, and from what I gather the situation changes daily, but we've heard that that disease is still killing many, many people."  
  
Valiantly trying to hide the emotions those words invoked, Tielle asked, "But King Faihn is still on Hidon, even though he runs the risk of getting the disease himself?"  
  
Tesian shrugged. "As far as I know, Hidon is still occupied, and no one can get in or out, not that anyone'd want to get in with that plague."  
  
Tesian's husband, a robust man named Viccaros, added, "And last I heard, no other planets are sending any medics to help, since the planet's occupied and its king is still in a coma and unable to negotiate."  
  
*What about Uncle Klane?* Tielle wanted to scream. *Where is he and why isn't he helping my people?!*  
  
Chayden must have sensed her anger bubbling up, because he sent her a warning glance from across the table.  
  
*I know, I know,* she thought. *I won't do or say anything rash.*  
  
Although he couldn't read her mind, he must have gotten the general gist, for he dropped his gaze and concentrated on his meal.  
  
Tielle sighed as Tesian described the dire situation on Hidon and wondered how long she would be able to keep up this façade.  
  
**  
  
Parsecs and parsecs away, Prince Kall of Shansire was wondering the same thing.  
  
He met with his father to discuss the situation on Hidon and his engagement to Princess Tielle one gloomy day. The sky was gray and overcast, perfectly matching his mood as he sat down with his father in his den.  
  
"Father," he started, "I really don't know about marrying the Hidonian princess. If she's even alive, which I doubt, since we've heard nothing about her for so long, I don't want to marry onto a world that is infected with a plague and occupied by the enemy."  
  
His father nodded. "I understand. I too believe that the girl is dead, and I don't want you marrying onto Hidon right now."  
  
Kall sighed a huge breath of relief, feeling immeasurable amounts of stress leave him. "Then I will contact Hidon as soon as the jam is lifted," he declared, secretly wondering if the jam *would* ever be lifted.  
  
**  
  
Klane felt a surge of elation fill him as he read over the newest communiqué from his search party. They had managed to trace the ex-prince and his niece to the planet Surlow and were trying to either find them or find out where they had gone.  
  
"Excellent," Klane murmured to himself, glad to finally have some results. They were on the right track, and they'd find Tielle. They were, after all, the best the galaxy had to offer, and Tielle was a mere teenage girl, alone and defenseless. She'd be no trouble to find, and when she was.....  
  
Klane smiled at the prospect. And when she was, he would become the sole heir to the throne of Hidon.  
  
**  
  
With that communiqué, many events had started in motion, and time was ticking down for the two fugitives on a small planet, left completely unaware... 


	10. Plans

Chapter Ten- Plans Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you.."  
  
Tielle and Chayden settled into a comfortable life on Diresh; every morning Chayden would go out and work on the fields, and Tielle washed clothes, learned to cook, and generally just helped out around the colony with whatever she could.  
  
That seemed to be the norm in the colony- everyone helping out wherever they could. Tielle appreciated the generosity and hospitality of her neighbors, but grew to dislike Shaina Ontine's frequent offers for assistance wherever possible. The girl was too beautiful and too observant of Chayden's every move to please Tielle.  
  
Except for that one small cloud, Tielle had no reason to complain and tried her best not to, but settling into the new but simple lifestyle proved to be harder for the two royals than they had expected. Tielle's first attempts at cooking were not successful, resulting in burned and unrecognizable food, and Chayden came in from the fields exhausted and drained, not being used to physical labor.  
  
Tielle's friendship with Rashea grew, but her relationship with Chayden weakened. He was gone all day, every day, and returned home too weary for conversation. On the weekends, he slept in until noon, then rose and joined Tielle for either church or a meal at the Hamanis'. Following that was an afternoon nap for Chayden, a quiet reading and resting time for Tielle, and then they would have their supper together. Either a long chat about the week or, more often than not, a community sporting event or dance followed supper. Tielle learned to cherish those rare evenings when she had Chayden alone and could give up the pretense of being someone from somewhere she wasn't. He alone was the one person who understood all she'd been through and who could sympathize, and there was no one else to confide in.  
  
*Except for You, Lord*, she reminded herself as she prepared yet another meal (this ordeal had made her appreciate cooks more than she ever had). *But it's not the same. You don't reply, I can't hear Your laugh, can't see Your smile.*  
  
She sighed. She hadn't been hearing Chayden's laugh or seeing his smile much lately. They were both concerned about Hidon, which was still infected *and* occupied. It was a large- not to mention deadly -burden to put on one planet at one time, and Tielle worried that eventually Hidon would just snap from the pressure.  
  
*So what can I do?* she asked herself for the millionth time. *How can I stop that disease or get Fareari out of there? How?*  
  
It was, by now, a theoretical question, and Tielle didn't really expect an answer, so she was shocked when one came.  
  
**  
  
There was a dance that evening, and Chayden hadn't really wanted to go, but Tielle had seemed so vibrant and full of energy, so much like her old passion-filled self, that he couldn't help but follow her to the colony's hall.  
  
Everyone was there; they always were, dancing and laughing and looking completely carefree and joyous. They, too, had been through much persecution, some enslaved, others disowned, all fugitives like he and Tielle were. So why were they so vigorous when he and Tielle weren't?  
  
Perhaps it was the lying. The colonists were finally free of lies and hiding the truth, whereas he and Tielle had just begun it. When would they be free to end it?  
  
*When God believes it is time,* Chayden reminded himself.  
  
"Chanh!"  
  
It was the lovely Shaina. All charm and sex appeal, Chayden found her about as alluring as turning himself in and accepting the death penalty. She was too interested in him, too eager to please.  
  
Chayden had fallen in love with the opposite: a stubborn, headstrong, disagreeable princess by the name of Tielle who had never been so eager to please him. She had even hated him at one time, and heck, she *still* wasn't eager to please him! She was too free-spirited, too independent.  
  
"Yes Shaina?" Chayden turned and smiled at her tolerantly, all the while thinking it was a shame that the one girl who *did* appeal to him was stuck in a lie and posing as his sister.  
  
"Come and dance with me," she pouted, her strange amethyst eyes begging him.  
  
He supposed it would be very out of character to refuse to dance with anyone but his sister and let her lead him out onto the dance floor.  
  
**  
  
Rashea stood with Ella, who seemed strangely occupied with her own thoughts, thoughts that she wasn't willing to share. The older girl was extremely friendly and fun to be with, and Rashea got along with her wonderfully, but there were parts of her that were closed. There were things that she didn't speak of, but the sadness that was in her eyes whenever she thought no one was looking revealed that she had hidden pain.  
  
Rashea watched Ella's eyes follow her brother out onto the dance floor with Shaina, and Rashea observed with interest that the green eyes narrowed noticeably.  
  
"You don't like Shaina?" she asked, amused.  
  
Ella started, obviously having forgotten of Rashea's presence. "Well, honestly, no not really."  
  
"That's okay. I don't really like her either," Rashea admitted, and the other girl blew a sigh of relief and relaxed.  
  
"She's too interested in Chanh. It disturbs me- she hardly even knows him."  
  
"Well, Shaina's not the type who much cares about personality, if you know what I mean."  
  
Ella nodded. "I know, and that's what frightens me. I don't want him to get hurt."  
  
Something about Ella's almost-wistful tone struck Rashea and she asked, "Was there another girl?"  
  
Ella's eyes darkened momentarily, and for a second Rashea thought that she was going to lash out, but then she relaxed and replied in a sad tone, "Well, yes, there was. I think he really cared for her, but sometimes I wonder..." she snapped herself out of her reverie. "It didn't work out."  
  
"Why not?" Rashea knew her question was rude, but she couldn't help herself.  
  
Ella, who looked slightly dazed, didn't seem to take offense. "Oh, she was from a different planet. Hidon, actually, and if you know anything about Hidon, you know that Hidonians hate Farearians and vice versa.. It would have never worked out- Mom and Dad didn't approve of her, her parents, her planet, her god or anything else about her, for that matter, and they had to keep their relationship a secret, hidden from everyone. He never really spoke of her, and so that's why I wonder how much he really cared....." Emotion seemed to overwhelm Ella, and she turned away. "I have to, uh, go wash up," and she fairly ran away.  
  
**  
  
Tielle breathed deeply, slowly letting the emotion drain away. She should have never said those things to Rashea! She should have never let her know about that girl, for that girl was her......  
  
Revealing her doubts about how much "Chanh" had cared for "that girl" had been wrong too, for she had been revealing her doubts about how much he cared for her. He had seemed to be having a simply wonderful time out there with that witch Shaina....  
  
Tielle jerked her mind away from that and instead wondered how she could convince Chayden of her plan.  
  
It was quite simple, really. All Tielle would have to do was pretend to be a doctor and get onto Hidon, find out about this disease, and then get out and search the galaxy for some sort of cure or explanation as to why it had struck. No one other than Farearian and Hidonian medics had examined any of Hidon's patients, and so how were they supposed to know about the disease if it wasn't native to either planet? But if Tielle could bring their knowledge off Hidon and to the rest of the galaxy, maybe she could find something!  
  
Posing as a doctor wouldn't be hard; all Tielle would have to do is read medical textbooks, and, thanks to her photographic memory, she would be able to remember and diagnose every ailment she came across.  
  
Doctors were traveling from Fareari to Hidon weekly in the search to end the epidemic; if Tielle could just get on one of those transports she'd be all set, what with her Farearian accent and all.  
  
There were only two hitches to this plan- she needed Chayden to access Fareari's databank with the secret password he no doubt had and enter her as a medic onto one of those transports, and then she would have to go alone to Fareari and Hidon. Alone.  
  
She didn't think Chayden would like that alone part.  
  
She hedged a glance at him and Shaina out on the dance floor, dancing and laughing, clearly having a great time.  
  
Or maybe he wouldn't mind. 


	11. The First Fight

Part Two- Healing Chapter Eleven- The First Fight Exodus 17:2- "So they quarreled....."  
  
In the days that followed, Tielle got her hands on medical textbooks and devoured them, reading and reading while Chayden wasn't home and keeping her idea a secret.  
  
She didn't keep her suddenly rigorous physical regime secret, however, saying that the workouts soothed her, for they reminded her of when she had trained on Hidon.  
  
That was partly true, but mostly it was in case of any emergencies that Tielle might encounter. She might need her combat skills to fall back on, and she practiced her laser-shot as well as martial arts and self-defense. Her lack of proper training material, such as mats, led to many battered pillows and increased laundry loads, but that didn't deter the princess, who knew that the clandestine mission to Hidon may be very dangerous, and she vowed not to let herself die, if only for Hidon and her people.  
  
**  
  
Chayden was seriously wondering about Tielle and her sudden interest in starting a demanding workout sessions, which she did every day but the Sabbath. She maintained that it was simply to keep in shape and a de- stressor, but Chayden was not convinced. She was hiding something from him.  
  
Her manner and sense had changed lately. She became less open and more like the resolute princess he had first met, determined not to let anything slip. There was a certain gleam back in her eye, a gleam that Chayden had come to associate with her resolve to solve a problem. The question was, what problem was she trying to solve now?  
  
As the sun set on the flat horizon, he readied to return home and decided to ask her just that question. He was tired of the way she was trying to hide things from him and wanted everything in the open.  
  
A sudden cool breeze caused Chayden to shiver, and he wondered what month it was. Time had seemed to cease to exist for him and Tielle, who had just become concerned with surviving on a day-to-day basis and forgotten about time.  
  
But perhaps they shouldn't have, for Chayden felt that time was running out, though for who or what, he didn't know. For the ill on Hidon? For him and Tielle? He didn't know.  
  
He was interrupted from his brooding thoughts by- who else? -Shaina Ontine, who had coincidentally chosen that time of day to come down to the creek to wash clothes. "Chanh!" she smiled seductively, placing the wet clothes in a basket and hurrying to meet him. "You look so cold. Is the weather always warm on Fareari? It isn't even that cold today."  
  
Not bothering to wait for a reply, she slipped an arm around his waist before he realized what was happening. "There," she said, huddling close to him, "I'll warm you up."  
  
Although Tielle would have no doubt come up with a scathing sarcastic reply, Chayden found himself stunned by the beautiful girl's closeness. She smelled good, like a field of wildflowers, and her long hair touched his neck as she dipped her head. It was soft and soothing, just like Tielle's fingertips, the touch that he had not felt but longed for for so long now....  
  
He realized his thoughts were straying into territory that was dark and dangerous, and he belatedly pushed his mind to more safe paths, pushing Shaina away as he did.  
  
"You don't want my arm around you?" Shaina asked innocently, her eyes widening. "But I thought....."  
  
"Thought what?" the words came out more soft and less gruff than Chayden had wanted them to.  
  
"I thought that you wanted me," she whispered, and reached for him.  
  
**  
  
Tielle glanced out the window at the disappearing sun and fought anxieties. Her meal was getting cold, and it was unlike Chayden to be late. Was he having a hard time finding his way back in the near-darkness?  
  
Pulling a jacket on, Tielle headed outside, at the same time chastising herself for her nervousness. She was really too easily worried.  
  
But she still wound her way to the creek, knowing that even if full dark fell, she'd be able to find her way back home from the small stream of water.  
  
Squinting slightly, she thought she saw a figure in the distance and headed that way, not calling Chayden's name for fear of embarrassment if it wasn't him.  
  
As she grew closer, the figure- split. Into two. Tielle struggled to understand what she was seeing, and clarity came to her when the smaller figure murmured, just loud enough to hear, "I was right. You *did* want me." The figure paused for just a moment, and then coyly said, "And you're a wonderful kisser, Chanh."  
  
As the two figures became one again, Tielle turned and fled.  
  
**  
  
Chayden pushed Shaina away from him, his momentary lapse of judgment coming back to him. "No, Shaina," he said firmly, fully in control of runaway hormones, "I don't want you. I never have."  
  
The seductress stared up at him and sarcastically replied, "Oh? Is there someone else?"  
  
He fleetingly wondered if there was or not, but pushed that thought away. "It doesn't matter. I'm not in love with you."  
  
Shaina smiled. "Who said I was in love with you? You don't have to be in love to enjoy the opposite sex and intimacy with them."  
  
Her words made Chayden's skin crawl, and he seemed powerless to resist as she placed a hand on his chest. "Come now, Chanh. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that kiss."  
  
He wrenched her hand from him and walked away, his heart pounding and his mouth dry.  
  
**  
  
Sobbing and completely out of control, Tielle ran to her room and collapsed upon the bed, utterly distraught. That was it, she was leaving tomorrow, whether or not she got Chayden's password. If she didn't, she'd just leave the colony and go somewhere else. Surlow, maybe. Perhaps Jenai would take her in.  
  
Footsteps sounded in the next room, and her door slid open and then shut as Chayden entered the room. "Tielle?" she heard him say as she buried her head in a pillow. "What's wrong?"  
  
He placed a hand upon her heaving shoulders, but she shrugged it off and faced him, fire burning in her eyes. "What's wrong? What's wrong?" she considered, placing a finger on her chin and tapping it thoughtfully. "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you figure it out, or even better, go ask Shaina?"  
  
Chayden slumped to the bed. "You saw, uh, us outside."  
  
"Brilliant deduction," Tielle exclaimed, fury still smoldering within her and extinguishing any signs of grief or sadness. She was *mad.*  
  
Chayden had caught onto that and sighed. "It wasn't like it looked, Tielle, I-" "Oh? It wasn't like it looked. Well, let's see. It looked like you were kissing Shaina. Were you?"  
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
"Okay, then I'm not sure how it didn't look like it was. 'Cause it seems to me that all you were doing was cheating on me and totally throwing everything we have to the wind!"  
  
Chayden had seemed to be at a loss just moments before, but now he straightened and quietly asked, "What *do* we have, Tielle? Because you've been doing a good job of shutting me out lately. Do you even want anything?"  
  
"Now? No. No, Chayden, and tomorrow I'm leaving. I can't take this, and I shouldn't have to. On top of everything I've gone through these past months- only losing all my siblings, being kidnapped and tortured, and finding out that my planet is dying alongside my father -you have to add this? Why didn't you have the courtesy to just tell me you wanted to end things?"  
  
"Because maybe I didn't want to!" Chayden furiously replied. "Maybe the only reason I was slow to get away from Shaina is because I got from her what you're not giving. Maybe I was sick of you pushing me away even as I tried to get closer!"  
  
That stopped Tielle, and she stared at him. "Then what do you want from me?" she whispered.  
  
"This," Chayden replied, and he lowered his head to hers for a deep, passionate kiss.  
  
**  
  
From outside the Raynani's house, Shaina crept up to a window and watched as the fighting started. Her interest had been captivated when angry words could be heard from outside. What were the two siblings fighting about?  
  
She now seriously doubted that they were related.  
  
Any doubts she had were evaporated as Chanh touched his lips to Ella's, where they pursued her lips insistently, and one of Chanh's hands reached up to caress her cheek as one of Ella's arms came around his neck.  
  
Scurrying away, Shaina wondered what she could do with the information that their two newcomers weren't brother and sister and were in fact lying about their identity and who knew what else.  
  
**  
  
Tielle pushed away from Chayden with tears in her eyes, and he felt his heart sink when doubt radiated off of her. She still didn't know what to believe or what to feel.  
  
*I love you*, his heart cried out to her, but he knew it wasn't the time. He just wondered when it would be.  
  
"Tomorrow," she said with a shaky breath, "I am leaving for Fareari. I will be boarding a transport of doctors that is going to Hidon, and when I am there I will be learning all I can about the mysterious plague there and bringing that knowledge back with me to the rest of the galaxy, where I will search for either a cure or some indication of how this disease works."  
  
He opened his mouth to protest, but a razor-sharp glance from Tielle made him close it again.  
  
"I will do this with or without your help," she continued conversationally, "and I have prepared for this task by reading extensive medical documents, which will allow me to masquerade as a doctor, and by reviewing my self- defense training. I am ready for this and I will do it, whether you help me or not.  
  
"If you agree to help me, all I'd need from you is for you to break into Fareari's databank and enter me as a doctor on a transport leaving for Hidon. I would then go alone; there is no way you can pretend to be a doctor without either the proper training or a photographic memory."  
  
She looked at him, and her eyes were dark with resolve and purpose. "I will do this, with or without your help," she repeated, "for I know that this is something I must do, for my planet and for my people. If I die, I die. But I will not stand back and watch my people die!"  
  
The passion in her voice scared Chayden, and he meekly nodded.  
  
"But I will be more likely to die if you do not help me. Will you?"  
  
Again she gazed up at him with intense eyes, and he almost seemed to lose himself in the depth of those fervent eyes as he considered whether or not to stop the girl he loved from embarking on a mission that she would go on alone and perhaps give her life to.....  
  
** Whew, I finally got it to upload! Success! ( Well, that was fun. I enjoyed writing that, hope you enjoyed reading it( I felt that I had been in a rut with my last couple chapters, but I think that's brought me out of it- tell me what *you* think! I love to get reviews from you guys! 


	12. Plans of Murder

Chapter Twelve- Plans of Murder Psalm 35:15- ".attackers gathered against me when I was unaware."  
  
Tielle stood resolutely facing the man who had just before crushed her with his actions, hoping against hope that he wouldn't see through her bluff and refuse to grant her help. He may be a two-timing cheater, but she needed his help and wouldn't go to Fareari without it.  
  
Or was he a cheater? His kiss had said otherwise....  
  
*Yeah, but what did his kiss say to Shaina?* Tielle furiously thought, and anger welled up in her again.  
  
Chayden hovered on the indecision, and Tielle desperately fought down her anger and tried to insert earnestness into her tone. "Please, Chayden," she beseeched him, begging with her eyes as well as her voice. "My people are dying and they need my help. Without it, they are beyond hope."  
  
The truth of her words seemed to sink into the ex-prince, and he breathed a long sigh. "Fine. I'll help you."  
  
Momentary elation penetrated through Tielle's cloud of rage. "You will?" She smiled and laughed. "You will! This is great. I have to go to Paeona now," she declared, and started mentally packing, going over everything she'd need...  
  
"Hold on," Chayden stopped her, "Right now?" He gestured outside. "It's almost dark."  
  
"So?" Tielle faced him, glad she'd be leaving him behind on Diresh. "My people are dying even though it's almost nightfall here."  
  
Chayden seemed to realize she wasn't in the mood for arguing and let her pack without complaint.  
  
**  
  
On Hidon, King Faihn paced the elaborate throne room, which he was still having a hard time getting used to- it was three times the size of Fareari's -and listened to more reports regarding Myll.  
  
The medic finished his report- one that was slightly worse than the one before it, which in turn had been slightly worse than the one preceding it -and stopped.  
  
Faihn faced him. "When is the next shuttle of medical experts coming?"  
  
The medic consulted her datapad. "In four days, Your Highness."  
  
"Four days," Faihn murmured, dismissing the doctor. He stared a long time out of the grand windows revealing a view of the large courtyard, still teeming with life even as its people- and king -slowly died. *And if this shipment of so-called "experts" can't make any progress, we shall leave this forsaken planet.*  
  
**  
  
The Grand Duke of Chepsco of Hidon glanced at the most recent report to have been transmitted to him, and he laughed.  
  
He spun in his swivel chair to the large view-screen inhabiting his temporary living space. He keyed in a name and smiled when a large swarthy man's face appeared after a few moments.  
  
"Naniso Harati here."  
  
"Ah yes, Commander Harati," Klane said, his tone revealing his satisfaction. "I just received your report."  
  
The man straightened and injected more respect into his tone when he realized whom he was speaking to. "I hope it was satisfactory, sir."  
  
"Oh, it was, it was. I am most pleased that you have found where they stayed while on Surlow. Are you watching this woman's home?"  
  
"Around the clock, sir. She has not returned since we traced the subjects here, but it is almost nightfall here, and we are expecting her here soon."  
  
"Excellent. What do you know about this woman?"  
  
Harati shrugged. "Not much. Her name is Gen, but no one really seems to know much about her. Personal information such as age is unknown to everyone we questioned, but one man commented that she had a Thaeran accent. Why she may have come from Thaera to Surlow is unknown."  
  
"Really," Klane considered that. "Interesting. Keep searching for anyone who might know any more about her or about my niece and her escort."  
  
The other man bowed slightly. "We will, sir, and will contact you if we learn anything."  
  
"Excellent," Klane said, and he ended the communiqué but gazed thoughtfully at the empty view-screen for many more minutes afterward.  
  
If things continued to go so well, Klane felt certain his niece would be dead the next week.  
  
**  
  
So the handsome off-worlder had chosen to spurn her, had he? Well, fine. Shaina would just make sure that he would regret that decision.  
  
But she had to plan this carefully. It was not something that should quickly be rushed into in the heat of the moment- she would sleep on it and then, in the morning, decide what to do with this information..  
  
**  
  
Paeona was a city of trade, and shipping began in the early hours of the morning. The sun had not even yet begun to peek over the horizon, and yet the city was alive with activity and noise as Tielle entered the spaceport with Chayden. She had not wanted to have to bring him along but had reluctantly acknowledged the need for him to come and hack into the Farearian databank.  
  
They moved to a public information portal and Chayden began keying in commands and override codes, muttering to himself. Tielle glanced nervously glanced around at the passers-by and then reprimanded herself, for there was nothing out of the ordinary about a couple using the public information portal to find departure times for ships going to Fareari, which was, of course, all they were doing.  
  
"All right," Chayden said, briefly looking up from the screen. "Dr. Ella Raynani is now on the list of medics going to Hidon from Fareari."  
  
"When?"  
  
Chayden consulted the screen. "Four days from now."  
  
"Four days," Tielle repeated to herself, mentally calculating. No ships went direct from Diresh to Fareari; she would have to first stopover on Maalar and then, from Maalar, depart for Fareari. If all went well, that would take about three days, just allowing her to catch her shuttle from Fareari to Hidon. "That'll work. Here, move over." She took control of the portal and booked a seat on a ship leaving for Maalar in an hour. Finished and satisfied, she straightened and turned to Chayden but didn't look at him.  
  
They went to the same bar they had visited when they first came to Diresh and sat in silence for a long while, until Tielle asked, "What's the name of the shuttle that I'm on, going to Hidon?"  
  
"The Dawn's Victory," Chayden intoned, and Tielle wondered whether the name of the ship foretold the outcome of her mission.  
  
"So what am I supposed to tell everyone back at the colony?" Chayden asked, and Tielle sighed. *Can't he come up with something on his own?*  
  
"I don't know. Tell them I've gone back to Fareari. Yeah, that I couldn't stand living on such a desolate planet and have gone home to ask for forgiveness."  
  
Chayden snorted. "Well, if they know anything about Farearians, they'll know that isn't true; Farearians never ask for forgiveness."  
  
"Then *you* come up with something better," Tielle snapped back at him and he sighed and turned away.  
  
He sighed again. "Tielle, you don't have to do this. What makes you think you do?"  
  
She knew he meant going to try to save her planet even if he didn't say the words aloud, and it touched something within her as she realized he didn't want her to go. But she pushed any soft feelings away- hadn't *he* been the one who wanted to end things between them? -and replied scathingly, "I will not neglect my duty. I am the only chance my planet has, and I will not deny them of that chance even if it means giving my life."  
  
She could tell he wasn't satisfied by her response and lowered her voice and repeated imploringly, "I am the only chance my planet has. Can you understand how one life given is worth the risk to save billions?"  
  
She focused her gaze on him and watched as he finally began to understand. "Fine, then," he whispered, "Go with God."  
  
And Tielle silently slipped from her stool, picked up her belongings, and vanished.  
  
**  
  
Chayden returned to Kansoth, alone, wanting nothing more than to just climb in bed and sleep for a few months. Perhaps then he would be able to sort through everything that had happened to him lately.  
  
But he knew his mind was too troubled for sleep, even though he had been up all night. He had so much to think about, and so many questions, but there were no answers..  
  
*None that anyone in this galaxy can give me, anyway, but there's always God,* Chayden reminded himself, although his faith had been weakening lately. *He knows all, and can help me when I don't..*  
  
So Chayden spent a moment in prayer as he flew over the flat plains of Diresh, nearing Kansoth.  
  
**  
  
"I swear it!" Shaina cried, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. "They are not brother and sister! And now they have left without telling anyone- the timing is just a bit too coincidental, don't you think?"  
  
"She has a point," Viccaros, Rashea's father, admitted, and Tesian nodded. Rashea wondered what in the galaxy was happening.  
  
"But perhaps they are wanted criminals and didn't want to endanger any of us," she suggested defensively, and many of the men that Shaina had gathered glared at her, not believing young girls should take part in such discussions.  
  
"We're all wanted criminals here," Shaina shot back, her eyes blazing. "But none of us lie to each other. We don't allow that amongst ourselves; why should we allow it from those strangers?"  
  
"Hear, hear," a few men agreed, and Rashea felt her heart sink. This was not going well.  
  
"I say that if those two return, we kill them!" A man suggested, and Rashea gasped. "No, we cannot!"  
  
"And why not? If they would lie to us about their identity, can they be trusted? No! They may go to our former slavers and tell them where we are! We may be recaptured!"  
  
"I cannot believe that about them," Rashea disagreed. "Regardless of who they are or say they are, they are fellow believers. They can be trusted, for we share a common bond in God."  
  
"Do we?" the same man, Entos, countered. "If they would lie about their identities, why not their religion?"  
  
And it was then that Rashea knew she had lost, but still she tried, unable to hold her tongue. "What about the commandment, 'Thou shall not murder'?"  
  
"It's not murder- it's self-defense! Or are you so eager to experience slavery as your parents did, young Rashea?"  
  
Viccaros stepped forward and placed a hand on Rashea's shoulder. "Entos is right, Rashea. There is nothing else to be done. We cannot risk that they would inform our slavers."  
  
Rashea desperately looked to her mother. "Mom!"  
  
Tesian Hamani only turned away. 


	13. God Commands

Chapter Thirteen- God Commands Isaiah 1:2- "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken.."  
  
The ride to Maalar was a trying one for Tielle. Her emotional burdens were overwhelming her. It was just so much, the combination of Chayden's betrayal, Hidon's occupancy, Hidon's plague that had struck her father, and the pretense of being someone else. It was just so much.  
  
But especially Chayden's infidelity. Tielle had thought that he cared for her, maybe even loved her, even if he had never actually said the words, but he obviously didn't, and that hurt Tielle more than she would have thought it would for reasons she didn't want to explore. The fact that she was so hurt showed that she did indeed care for him, and although she had never labeled it *love*, she was beginning to think it might be..  
  
*No! I don't love Chayden,* she told herself. *I can't love Chayden- he doesn't love me. And if I loved him, I would have forgiven him about the whole Shaina thing, right? I didn't, though, so I obviously don't love him.*  
  
*Oh no?* A sneaky little voice in the back of her countered. *But remember when you were on Fareari and had just been miraculously healed? Chayden told you then that he loved you.*  
  
*Yeah, but who knows if it was true or not, and even if it was true at the time, he certainly hasn't bothered to tell me lately. He doesn't love me, and I don't love him.*  
  
*Maybe you do, and it was only your pride that stopped you from forgiving him.*  
  
*I do not love him!* Tielle told herself so forcefully that any nagging voices that had existed fled, and she was left alone with her musings. She wearily closed her eyes. Was she only nineteen? She felt as though she was an old, old woman reflecting on a life of hardships and trials.  
  
*Like Jenai.* The thought popped, unbidden, into Tielle's mind, and the image of the shrunken old woman filled her mind. *I wonder how Jenai is doing? If she's gotten her daughter out of slavery or not?*  
  
Tielle quickly uttered a silent prayer for the hospitable woman who had been so generous to Chayden and her. *Dear Lord, please protect Jenai and her daughter. May You deliver her daughter from slavery and bring her back to Jenai.*  
  
Tielle realized with a start that that was the first time she'd prayed in a long while, and so continued to pray, asking for help with her mission and praying for Hidon's deliverance from both Fareari and the mysterious illness.  
  
She didn't even know how much her one sentence for Jenai's protection was needed.  
  
**  
  
Gen neared her home, weary after a long day full of trials. The SLF had so far been unable to free any more slaves on Surlow, although they had hinted at a mass slave-freeing coming soon, but had refused to play favorites and try to get a particular slave out.  
  
Of course, Gen knew they would change their minds if she had enough money. But she didn't, and that was the problem..  
  
Heaving a deep sigh, Gen was about to head down the alley to her apartment when she noticed a man sitting on the curb, enjoying a cigarette. He had the tattered clothing of the homeless, and the same slump to his shoulders, but when he glanced at her, Gen saw that he was the same man who had been in the store where she had been shopping that same day, except then his clothing had been that of an average middle-class Surlow citizen..  
  
*Get out of here!* Everything within Gen screamed, and she turned and quickly started walking the other way. *They're after you!*  
  
The question was, who were "they"? Surlow officials, probably, after her because of her connections with the SLF.  
  
Which meant that they'd be watching her as long as she stayed on Surlow. Gen sighed. But where else could she go?  
  
*Don't leave Surlow.*  
  
The words came through with crystalline clarity, and Gen instinctively knew to trust them. *All right then; I'm not leaving Surlow.*  
  
She glanced over her shoulder and to her horror saw the homeless man get up and casually follow her. She quickly turned her head back and narrowed her eyes. *So the officer wants to pick on a poor old woman? Well, we'll see who knows the back alleys better.*  
  
And so Gen started darting through alleys and over fences, past abandoned buildings and through yards, and although she knew perfectly well where she was, she knew that the man following her would be hopelessly lost.  
  
Smiling slightly, Gen wandered the streets to a friend's house, looking for a sanctuary.  
  
**  
  
Harati contacted Klane that morning, trying to keep his somber disposition but not completely being able to keep a smug smile off his face.  
  
"You have good news?" Klane asked cynically.  
  
"Yes, sir. Through the interrogation of a black market ship dealer, we found that a man resembling Chayden P'ashara, although with darker hair, traded a shuttle in for another. We scoured all the docking records of spaceports all over the galaxy and finally got lucky and found where they went."  
  
"Yes? Where?" Klane eagerly asked, impatience and excitement coloring his voice. He finally had them!  
  
"Diresh, sir," Harati replied, the smirk coming full force now. "As we speak, our people are scouring Paeona, the capital city, for any sign of your niece or the ex-prince."  
  
"Excellent!" Klane exclaimed, allowing a smile to spread across his face. "This is excellent news, Commander. Continue the search, and when you find them-" the smile shrank and became a subtle smirk full of malice, "kill them."  
  
**  
  
Chayden returned to the colony, yawning and eager to go to bed. It had been a long night, and he was both physically and emotionally drained.  
  
But rest was not anywhere in his immediate future, as he found out when he entered the colony and people began to spill out into the dusty street. "Raynani!" a burly man, Entos, Chayden reminded himself, "where's your *sister?"*  
  
Why there was the strange emphasis on "sister", Chayden didn't know, and neither did he care. "She went to Fareari. She was getting tired of this life and couldn't handle it anymore, so she's gone."  
  
"Uh-huh," Entos replied, crossing his arms. "Do you really expect us to believe that?"  
  
Chayden frowned as a growing unease crept upon him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"He means that we know your little secret?" Shaina pushed her way to the front of the growing mob and sneered at Chayden. "Did you think we were that stupid? Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?"  
  
*Do they know who I am? Who Tielle is?* Panic welled up in Chayden, and he prayed to God for help. "What are you talking about?" he insisted. "What secret?"  
  
" 'What secret'," Shaina laughed maliciously at him. "So, who is Ella? Your wife? Girlfriend? Or are you just in the habit of kissing your sisters?"  
  
*They know. Oh God, they know that Tielle and I were lying, and that we're- * what? In love? Tielle sure didn't seem to love him, even if he loved her.  
  
*And I do,* Chayden realized, and it was in that moment that he knew that he would never love another the way he did Tielle. Everything about her- her mesmerizing looks, so beautiful that he couldn't take his eyes off her when she was in the same room; her fiery spirit and indomitable will, the will that had allowed her to endure torture and death and emerge stronger; her unshakable faith and knowledge in God that could not be broken even as her world was overcome and then infected by an incurable disease; her sense of sacrifice and willingness to give everything, including her life, for her planet and for anything she truly believed in; and her laugh and smile and the way her eyes lit up when she was happy and the way Chayden felt when he made her happy -added up to something he'd never felt before, and even though he was only eighteen, a mere child in the galaxy, he knew that his love for Tielle was not a fleeting emotion, here and gone like the seasons. How could it be? They had seen so much together, and overcome so much together. He wanted to continue that; he wanted to do *everything* with her, everything for the rest of his life.  
  
"Why are you smiling?" Shaina snapped at him, and he realized that he had completely forgotten about the matter at hand in his thoughts about Tielle. "Well?" Shaina growled again, and Chayden laughed.  
  
"You're right, Shaina, Ella is not my sister. Her name isn't even Ella. Heck, my name isn't Chanh."  
  
"Then who is she? And who are you?" Entos snarled.  
  
Chayden smiled again. There was nothing these people could do to him- even if they killed him, he would just be with God that much sooner.  
  
Although he would like to live to see Tielle again, and tell her that he loved her. *Could you manage that, Lord? I'd really like it.*  
  
"Who are you?" Entos repeated, and Chayden replied pleasantly, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you who we are. You see, there are people who want to kill us, and I don't want them knowing who we are."  
  
He turned and started walking home-  
  
**  
  
The blond fell onto the road, not being able to stand Entos's heavy hit to the back of his head. Tesian averted her gaze as the large man kicked Chanh- or whatever his name was -and the crowd roared.  
  
"Mom!" Rashea looked to her mother. "Make them stop!"  
  
*A family of Mine. Protect them, daughter. Do not let harm come unto them!*  
  
They were the same words as Tesian had heard from God long before, but this time they were repeated with more urgency. *Let not harm befall them!*  
  
"These people can't be them, Lord," Tesian whispered. "They are not a family."  
  
*Protect them!*  
  
"But God-"  
  
*I have sent My answer to cries for deliverance. Do not let harm befall them!*  
  
"*They* are your answer? But they're nothing more than teenagers!"  
  
*Protect them!*  
  
The young man made a groaning noise as he stirred, but Entos kicked him again to shut him up.  
  
*PROTECT THEM!* The voice screamed at Tesian as she closed her eyes in a vain attempt to close off Chanh's groans of anguish. 


	14. Hiding

Chapter Fourteen- Hiding Psalm 141:9- "Keep me from the snares they have laid for me."  
  
"*Stop*!"  
  
The word erupted from Tesian's mouth and spilled across the crowd. They all stared at her as she rushed forward, her daughter on her heels, to Chanh's side. "This is wrong," she sternly told the people, turning Chanh over onto his back. "He is not our enemy."  
  
"No?" Entos sneered.  
  
"No," Tesian firmly replied. "God has told me that we are to protect Chanh and the girl that was with him, not harm them."  
  
"And since when has God taken to talking to you?" Entos sneered, and Tesian's husband, Viccaros, stiffened. "Are you insinuating that my wife is a liar?" he coolly asked, and Entos drooped, knowing Viccaros's influence in the colony. "No, not at all," he mumbled and melted into the crowd alongside Shaina.  
  
Chanh stirred and blinked. "Wha- what happened?" he murmured thickly.  
  
"You're okay now," Rashea soothed him, helping him sit up. "Mom," she said, "go get some water. And a rag, 'kay?"  
  
Surprised at her daughter's commanding tone, Tesian nonetheless rose to her feet and went to carry out her daughter's order, stopping only to glare at the crowd and tell them to go away.  
  
They disbanded, and when Tesian returned, were gone.  
  
**  
  
Chayden winced as he eased into a chair, holding the wet cloth to his bleeding head. "Ow," he mumbled, and Rashea was instantly by his side.  
  
"Are you all right? Do you need some painkillers? Here, drink this," she commanded, shoving a glass into his hand.  
  
He swallowed the cold liquid and closed his eyes. *God, what is going on here? What did I do wrong that I deserved such a beating?*  
  
No answer came, and Chayden sighed and set the glass down. "You're probably wondering just who I am," he said to Rashea and Tesian, who had escorted him into his house.  
  
They didn't reply, but Chayden felt obligated to tell them his story anyway. *Kind of dumb, really- I don't know if I can trust them, but I'm going to tell them nonetheless.*  
  
"Well," Chayden began, "my name is Chayden Gian Tamsos P'ashara."  
  
Rashea blurted out, a shocked expression on her face, "You're that Farearian prince!"  
  
Chayden shook his head. "Not anymore. I've been disowned."  
  
Rashea's eyes widened even more, if that was possible. "Why? I mean, really?" she amended after her mother shot her a look.  
  
Chayden couldn't help but smile, even if his head hurt. "Yes, really, and I'll tell you why. But first, let me tell you who Ella is. Her name is Tielle Alaissyiss Nucona Satine."  
  
Rashea dropped the glass she had been holding and it shattered on the floor, but no reprimand came from her mother. Tesian had turned pale and her jaw had fallen surprisingly far.  
  
"I guess you have heard of her," Chayden understated. "Well, then you've probably heard of how she was kidnapped by Farearian forces and brought to a secret location in Hidon's forests. Well, I was there.."  
  
Chayden proceeded to tell them his and Tielle's story right from the beginning. Tesian and Rashea listened, enraptured, never interrupting, always giving their full attention to Chayden. At times their faces were full of fear and anticipation of what was going to happen next; at other times, tears filled their eyes, and Rashea actually started to cry when Arilana died.  
  
He told them everything, including the way he had stood by and watched as Tielle was tortured (although that was particularly hard for him to tell them), and how when Tielle had miraculously recovered he had become a believer, and how they had escaped together.  
  
He told his audience of how he and Tielle had gone to Surlow and everything that had taken place until that morning, when Tielle had left.  
  
"And we lied to you because we knew that we are wanted. Someone is trying to kill Tielle, as the assassins on Fareari showed, and I am now disowned and wanted by the royal family on Fareari for helping Tielle escape," he finished, and it took the women a moment to respond.  
  
"It all makes sense now," Tesian said slowly, more to herself than anyone else. "I understand, God."  
  
Chayden and Rashea looked at her, and she elaborated. "God told me that a family was coming, and they would deliver His people. It makes sense now, with Tielle going to Hidon." Tesian looked at Chayden. "She will succeed, Chayden. God told me so."  
  
Those words relieved Chayden more than he would have ever believed possible.  
  
**  
  
Glancing out at the flat horizon, the man shifted his hover-car into the highest gear and checked his holomap to find Kansoth, where, after only a few hours' work, he had discovered the princess and ex-prince were living.  
  
Grimly smiling to himself, he looked over his shoulder at the fleet of hover-cars. Those royals wouldn't stand a chance.  
  
** Tielle stepped off the ship and onto the jungle planet of Malaar. Generally uninhabited except for primitive peoples living in tribes scattered over the planet and scientists conducting research and making medicines of the planet's exotic plants, it was understandable that Malaar's spaceport was not very impressive.  
  
The landing pads were outside instead of inside as most in the galaxy were, and so Tielle breathed in the hot, humid air of Malaar, taking in the scent of foliage and heat. She had come to learn that each planet had its own unique scent; Fareari's was one of pine or salty ocean, depending on whether on was by the ocean or in its forests; Surlow's air was like artificial cleanliness in the more high-class areas and was more like garbage and cheap beer in the less respectable sections; Diresh smelled like wholesome crops; and Hidon's scent was of clear, fresh, crisp air that Tielle was looking forward to experiencing soon after what seemed like eons away.  
  
Tielle entered the small spaceport and headed for the nearest information portal, checking the departure time of her flight to Faeari. She compared the time to the chronometer hanging on the wall and sighed. She might as well get comfortable- she had a four-hour wait.  
  
** The familiar buzzing of a hover-car steadily grew louder, and Tesian and Rashea looked at each other in confusion. "Who could that be?" Tesian wondered aloud, and Rashea shrugged. "All the colonists are here- none are in Paeona today."  
  
Tesian rose. "I'll go see what's happening. Rashea, keep an eye on our invalid here."  
  
"Sure thing, Mom," Rashea grinned at Chayden as Tesian stepped outside. She, too, stood up and started cleaning up the shattered glass that lay on the floor from the glass she had dropped. "I still can't believe this! *Ella* is a princess? Of *Hidon*, of all places?" She shook her head. "It's so unbelievable. Who would ever think that royalty would ever come to *Diresh*?"  
  
Chayden sighed. "I'm afraid it's not all that glamorous or fun, Rashea. In fact, my presence here is probably endangering you."  
  
"Why didn't you go with El- I mean, Princess Tielle, then, Chan- I mean, Prince Chayden?"  
  
Chayden groaned as he shifted slightly. "Hey, just Chayden. I'm not a prince anymore. And I think you can drop the 'Princess' from Tielle too. You were her friend, and I don't think she'd require you to call her 'Princess'." He sipped his glass of water.  
  
  
  
"So why didn't you go with her?" Rashea pressed, and Chayden was saved from answering when Tesian burst back into the house.  
  
"There are many hover-cars out there," she gasped, "probably about fifteen or so. Never seen so many come to Kansoth, and no one else can come up with an explanation why they're here."  
  
Chayden felt his heart sink. He bet he could come up with a reason.  
  
Tesian looked at him. "I think we'd better move you to a safer place."  
  
Rashea and Tesian took him out the back of the house to their home, where they took him into the master bedroom. The two women pushed the bed aside, revealing a floorboard that they lifted off. "It's quite roomy down there," Tesian said, glancing over her shoulder to the window. "And there's food and water, as well as an electric light. It's fully stocked with everything you might need."  
  
Chayden looked down the hole in disbelief. "You just keep something like this handy?" he said as he gingerly jumped down.  
  
"In case any bounty hunters ever come after us," Tesian explained, helping him down. "We'll come and get you when it's safe."  
  
The floorboard was snapped into place over Chayden's head, and he could hear the bed being dragged back into place.  
  
And then footsteps faded away, and he was alone.  
  
** Just like to share something with y'all- God spoke to me! I didn't hear a booming voice from heaven or anything, but through a dream and strange feelings and urges and then half an hour of prayer, God revealed His will to me. It's an amazing feeling and I just wanted to share it with you- God does care about us down here and He does guide us! And to lilyofthevalley: thanks for the review- it's the first one I've gotten in a long time ( and I was getting worried that my most loyal reviewer had deserted me! Glad to see you haven't!  
  
Sorry about how long this took to get posted. I've been really busy lately, and then I was having some technical difficulties, which are always interesting. But it's up now, and I've also started another story, posted in the Originals and under Fantasy. If you liked Halo of Glory and are enjoying this one, you'll probably like it. It's the first in a series I've titled "Dark Storm Clouds" and the first installment is called "The Azure Pool". It's an action/adventure and romance and I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but it's about a last-resort sort of quest against this tyrant king who wants to take this continent over. Seven men set out to try and find what could be the key to defeating him, and along the way meet a mysterious girl who doesn't speak of her past but ultimately determines whether or not they will succeed..  
  
If you've read my profile, you know I love The Lord of the Rings, and the story was born when I saw the movie and was like, "What if there was a girl in the Fellowship?" That sort of describes the plot, but it's not a LOTR knockoff or anything. I'd be way too scared to even attempt to touch LOTR- JRR Tolkien did way too good a job for me to dare to try and change it.  
  
I should also mention that it's not religious. It started out from a religious standpoint, but I wanted to reach a larger audience and so it's not, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still conform to Christian morals. I'm still a Christian, and so I wouldn't even consider doing something that I consider immoral.  
  
Anyway, go check it out and please review this story. I love getting reviews! 


	15. Close Call

Chapter Fifteen- Close Call Deuteronomy4:4- "but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today."  
  
Rashea and her mother carefully shut the bedroom door as they left, leaving everything as it had been before. Then they headed out to the gathering flock of colonists; outsiders rarely came to Kansoth and so it incited the curiosity of the former slaves.  
  
The hover-cars were growing closer, and Rashea silently prayed to God, hoping that they weren't here to find Chayden and the princess. *At least even if they get Chayden, the princess is safe,* she thought, and that somewhat eased her troubled mind. *They can't get the princess.*  
  
** Tielle made her way through the Farearian spaceport, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. This was enemy territory, and every one of the people she passed hated her. She unconsciously ducked her head and looked down when she walked in an effort to be less noticeable.  
  
*There's no reason that they will notice you,* she chastised herself. *Indeed, the last place in the galaxy they'd expect the Crown Princess of Hidon to willingly come to is Fareari.*  
  
Thinking of herself as the Crown Princess felt strange, and Tielle realized that she had grown used to being just Ella, a normal person without any titles or responsibilities. But being a fugitive had created new responsibilities, ones that Tielle had not been trained for, and she realized that she was looking forward to being Princess Tielle again. At least then there would be a sense of normalcy, even if she still didn't know how that was going to happen.  
  
Finding the right shuttle, Tielle nervously stepped on, but fought down her anxiety. *They can sense your emotions,* she reminded herself. *They will grow suspicious if you are nervous. Calm down.*  
  
But as she took a seat across from an elderly man, Tielle found she couldn't. Closing her eyes and bowing her head slightly, Tielle uttered a short prayer. *Dear God, I need your help. I can't do this on my own; my anxiety will become too obvious and I will be discovered. I need Your peace, God- there's nothing else that can help me right now. Please God, help me to just trust You.*  
  
An amazing peace settled over Tielle then, and she instinctively knew that she was safe now. None would be able to penetrate her mind and notice her emotions. She would be safe.  
  
** As the hover-cars reached Kansoth, and Rashea quickly scanned the swarm of them and counted over a dozen, each with one driver and most with another passenger also. *These men mean business*, Rashea realized, and knew that they were in fact looking for the prince and princess.  
  
"Mom?" she looked to her mother and saw the same realization in those dark eyes.  
  
The hover-cars reached them then, and a man jumped off the one that had been in the lead. "My name is Pentros Laymal. I am looking for two criminals," he smoothly explained. "We have reason to believe that they may be here."  
  
Tesian stepped to the front. "Who is it you search for?"  
  
The man pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it. Two 3-D images of Chayden and Tielle appeared. "These two, both criminals of Fareari."  
  
*Liar!* Rashea thought furiously but remained silent.  
  
Entos opened his mouth to say something, but Tesian cut him off. "There are no Farearians here. There were, a few days ago, but the girl left and was followed by the boy just this morning."  
  
Entos looked at her, and Tesian nodded. "He left after that. incident, upset by it."  
  
"Might we have a look around?" Pentros politely asked. "They are devious and may just be hiding here, unbeknownst to you."  
  
Rashea immediately saw the quandary that the man had put her mother in. Say yes and run the risk of Chayden being discovered; refuse and make the man suspicious and go in by force anyway. Obviously, Tesian had to agree, and Rashea prayed a short prayer that the prince wouldn't be found.  
  
"Of course," Tesian smiled, but to her daughter the smile looked very forced. "We do not want any criminals here."  
  
The man barked a short laugh, knowing full well that Diresh was nothing more than a planet of fugitives. "Indeed." He nodded to his men, and they all disembarked from their 'cars and proceeded with entering all of the houses and searching through them.  
  
** Chayden sat in the hidden room for what seemed like hours to his bored mind but was more likely only half an hour. *I wonder how much longer I will have to stay in here?*  
  
He decided to occupy the time by praying and found that once he started, he couldn't stop. There was just so much to pray about. His safety, Tielle's safety, his family, Tielle's family, Tielle's dying world, Jenai, the colonists on Diresh...  
  
He prayed mostly for Tielle, though, asking God to spare her life and let them be reunited. He wanted to tell her he loved her, and that he never wanted to be away from her again. He wanted to hold her, he wanted to see her beautiful smile, he wanted to make her laugh. He told God all this, and received no answer from heaven, no flash of insight, but felt better nonetheless.  
  
Sudden footsteps sounded above his head, but they were louder, harder than Tesian and Rashea's had been. He knew that they were the people looking for him and instinctively drew back farther into the corner.  
  
**  
  
Tielle breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle shot away from Fareari into light-space. Now it was a matter of mere hours- seven, to be exact -until she would be back home.  
  
Home. A smile danced on her lips at that thought. Finally, she would be home. After all this time, all this danger, all this pain..  
  
Tielle let her mind drift back to the kidnapping and subsequent stay at the Purification Retreat, where she had met Chayden, and where Arilana had been killed..  
  
Tielle's eyes narrowed. Chayden had told her that his father had not arranged for her younger sister's death, and they had never figured out who had. Maybe Tielle should quietly look into that, also, while she was on Hidon.  
  
Settling deeper into her seat, she pulled out a book and determined to lay all these issues to rest for now.  
  
** Muffled voices could be heard through the floorboards, but they were not understandable to Chayden. They stilled, and footsteps sounded once again, this time going away.  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, Chayden offered a prayer of thanks to God. *Guess if you wanted me caught, I would have been a long time ago, huh?*  
  
But Chayden knew that the danger was not over. If his father had tracked him this far, he would be watching Diresh's spaceport very closely. Chayden was going to be stuck on Diresh indefinitely.  
  
** Faihn glanced over the latest reports. They had grown more dire, and the king couldn't see how anything short of a miracle could save these people now.  
  
Everyday he spent on the diseased planet he risked his life, since none knew how the illness was transmitted, but so far he had managed to avoid any sickness by refusing to see anyone who had been in the presence of a Hidionian- unless, of course, they were medics who had been properly protected while in the Hidonians' vicinity.  
  
King Partini remained comatose, and none could predict when he would regain consciousness (if he ever did), and how much damage might be sustained to his brain. His wife, Queen Shari, remained at his bedside around the clock, weeping and praying, but so far her god had neglected to make any motion to heal her husband.  
  
Although Faihn had to admit that his own gods hadn't been doing much to send any knowledge to his medics, who just fretted and attempted to keep those who weren't too badly infected from becoming more so. He was growing increasingly impatient with them.  
  
*Tonight the last shuttle of medics arrive,* he reminded himself. *If they cannot make any progress or discover anything, then I will leave and let this forsaken planet die.* 


	16. Tielle Picks Up the Trail

Chapter Sixteen- Tielle Picks Up the Trail Exodus 12:30- ".for there was not a house without someone dead."  
  
Footsteps sounded from above Chayden, and light spilled into the dank hiding place as Rashea removed a floorboard.  
  
"The men are gone, but Mom says they'll be watching the spaceport." She gave him a sympathetic look. "You're going to be here for a while."  
  
Chayden sighed. "I figured as much. Did they mention Tielle? Did they think she was here?"  
  
Rashea nodded as she helped Chayden from the hole. "They don't know she's left Diresh."  
  
Chayden let out a sigh of relief. "Well, thank God for that."  
  
They headed back out outside, where nightfall was slowly falling. Chayden looked out at the occident of the horizon and marveled at the pinks and purples of the sunset, thanking God that he was alive and free to see it.  
  
**  
  
Sunset painted the horizon as the shuttle pulled into Hidon's atmosphere through an array of magnificent oranges, pinks and purples that lit up the whole sky.  
  
Tielle peered out the small window, watching as the shuttle touched the landing platform on top of the palace.  
  
Feeling a rush of excitement at finally being home, Tielle intently gazed at her palace. Outwardly, it looked the same as always, until one looked more closely at the details. The usually shining white stone was now dull and dirty; the windows did not reflect the light as they always did. Obviously, this illness had taken a toll on the household staff, and they had become unable to perform their duties as normal.  
  
Tielle wondered if her room was still clean or if it too had been neglected, allowing dust and grime to build up, spiders to move in, bugs to take residence...  
  
She dearly hoped not as she rose, settling a mask of indifferent composure onto her face. She must not get emotional. She must remain calm.  
  
Down the gangplank she went, mindlessly following the other- more qualified- medics. Step by step, farther, until she was standing on her planet once more.  
  
Any elation she felt, however, was quickly stifled when she saw the landing party that greeted them; it included King Faihn himself.  
  
The king welcomed them warmly, updating them of the situation and telling them that they'd get a full night's rest before being expected to tackle the problem, of course. At one point in his talk he looked right at Tielle, but apparently her disguise was enough that the king did not recognize her. That reassured the princess a bit, but she still felt uneasy.  
  
They were escorted to their rooms, and Tielle tried hard to look like she was taking in the surroundings that were emblazoned in her memory. Each hallway brought memories; each portrait had a name attached to it.  
  
Their guides knew the extensive labyrinth of halls far less than Tielle, and even got them lost once. Tielle had to push down an urge to tell them to turn back, and to the left for any bedrooms but of course could not.  
  
They stopped at the first room -what used to be Tielle's older sister, Thoena's room -and two male medics were shown in, including the elderly man that Tielle had sat across from on the flight to Hidon.  
  
They turned a corner and stopped at the next room. Tielle's heart froze- she knew this room. *Please God, let them put me here!*  
  
They did. Tielle stepped forward as her name was called, alongside H'amin, Leitana, and into her room.  
  
It was exactly as she remembered it, except for the missing belongings that had been stripped from the room. No pictures adorned the dresser; no books rested in the bookshelf, but it was still the same bed, complete with a canopy, and the same balcony greeted her, its view as awe-inspiring as ever.  
  
"Oh, look at the view," Leitana gasped, and followed Tielle to the balcony and outside.  
  
The mountains in the distance and valley that the palace overlooked were beautiful enough on their own, but the sunset sent brilliant cascades of light through the sky that reflected on the rivers and waterfall running down into the valley, where life still thrived. The trees were green, their leaves gently waving in the wind, and the flowers blossomed and added touches of blue, lilac and scarlet to the picturesque scene.  
  
"It is beautiful," Tielle agreed as she turned away, fighting tears. "So unlike Faeari."  
  
Leitana murmured her agreement. "But I think I prefer the oceans better. I don't know- maybe I'm just reluctant to admit anything from Hidon can be any good."  
  
Tielle almost laughed at the irony of it; her, the heir to the throne of Hidon, being told such a thing, when she had fought such feelings on Fareari. "Well, not much from Hidon is."  
  
Leitana turned around. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Oh, I need to use the washroom," Tielle fibbed, walking through the door that swooshed open in front of her.  
  
Leitana's brow furrowed, and Tielle looked at the woman for the first time. She looked to be about thirty, give or take a couple years either way, with dark brown tresses cut in a practical hairstyle to her shoulders. Her eyes were the same brown; unremarkable, but not unattractive. "Where is the washroom? Did they tell us?"  
  
"Oh, there's one in here," Tielle replied without thinking, quickly amending, "I saw it before." She went into it and examined herself in the mirror. The skin around her eyes was turning red, a sure sign of emotional distress that she needed to remedy. Taking some cool water from the tap, she splashed it on her face, and while it did not completely eradicate the redness, it at least lessened it.  
  
She yawned unexpectedly, but then caught herself. She had work to do, and there was *no* way she was going to bed for a long, long time.  
  
She came out of the washroom and found that her luggage had been delivered to her room. Leitana was unpacking, and she followed suit, saying nonchalantly, "I think I'll be going to bed now. I'm so tired from the traveling; I don't know why, but flying always makes me tired, even though all I've been doing is sitting!"  
  
"Oh, I know what you mean," Leitana agreed, carefully placing a shirt in the dresser. "I'm tired too, and I'm warning you, once I'm out, I won't wake up." She grinned. "I'm a heavy sleeper."  
  
*Excellent,* Tielle thought. *Then I can do some night wandering without worry.*  
  
** Tielle waited until Leitana was fast asleep on the bed (Tielle had generously offered to sleep on the cot- it wasn't as though she'd be sleeping anyway) and then stripped off her nightgown, revealing dark clothes perfect for nighttime prowling.  
  
Not that she'd be using any conventional hallways, where there were certain to be night guards and cameras. No, she'd be using a handy little precaution installed by her parents.  
  
The threat of war with Fareari had always been present, and King Partini and Queen Shari had wanted their children to have an escape route in case of a surprise attack.  
  
Thus the secret passages had been created. Each bedroom and some other rooms -including the throne room, Great Hall and dining rooms -had unobtrusive buttons that melted into the architecture and opened the secret passages, which went half a mile underground away from the palace.  
  
Tielle wasn't interested in going away from the palace, though. She would be heading to the room built in the core of the secret corridors- the room that had a portal that accessed all the palace's information. Faihn would have no doubt hacked in, but Tielle possessed a password that would manage to slip her in under any censors he had in place. Her password and access was programmed into the hard drive and could only be destroyed if the hardware itself was destroyed, so guaranteeing her access.  
  
Silently creeping over to the control that regulated air temperature and velocity, Tielle pressed a button that opened the box and revealed a mass of wires that one would instantly think were normal for an air regulator. And they were; it was *under* the wires that mattered.  
  
Pushing aside some red and blue wires, Tielle found the small, almost invisible button the size of a pinprick. She put her thumb over it; after five seconds her body temperature would activate it. It was unlikely that anyone would ever have a finger at that particular spot for five seconds, even if they were fixing or changing the air regulator, and so was the perfect hidden device.  
  
Tielle then tiptoed over to the bookcase and slid it aside. An opening just large enough for her to crawl through appeared, and she got down on all fours and went through it. The crawlspace quickly gave way to a larger opening that she could stand in.  
  
She stood and then was back down on all fours, going back just to pull the bookshelf back into place. It slid perfectly where it belonged, aided by grooves in the floor that helped it to go exactly where it had been before.  
  
Back in the larger opening, Tielle quickly walked through, lights turning on as she went past, due to motion sensors, and then growing dim as she moved farther.  
  
She came to a fork in the path and instantly turned right, her photographic memory an invaluable asset in knowing where to go. *Thank You God for my memory- this would be a lot more difficult without it!*  
  
It was, of course, meant to be that way- a Farearian may be able to discover the passageways but would end up hopelessly lost anyway.  
  
Five minutes later Tielle arrived at her destination and walked into the room, the door sliding shut behind her.  
  
It was a small room, with room enough for only four or five people to fit, and it had a rather foul stench to it, but Tielle was not concerned with the smell of the room; she instantly went to the portal and pressed a finger to it. The screen blinked at her:  
  
USERNAME  
  
She wrote with her finger, "Tielle".  
  
The screen absorbed the word and then flashed:  
  
PASSWORD She wrote the password ("redhead") and waited for the computer, admiring the technology. Even if someone *did* manage to find this room and her password, they couldn't forge her writing, and the computer would reject them and set off security alarms.  
  
IDENTITY ACCEPTED AND PASSWORD CONFIRMED. PROCEED.  
  
Tielle delved into the system, finding out where her mom and dad were and leaving a message on the computer that she was on Hidon, in case her mom accessed the system.  
  
She considered the room they were in; a small servant's room, out of the way and near what the computer told her had been set up as a hospital wing. Could they be rescued from there?  
  
She didn't think about it for long, however, instead just committing the room and its schematics to memory. Then she went into the statistics of the planet and called up numbers of the dead and ill.  
  
The numbers astounded her. Two hundred million, dead? And unknown numbers inflicted with the disease? The computer guessed at about half a billion, but acknowledged that there was no real way of knowing.  
  
Tielle stared at the screen for a long, long time. Out of four billion people, two hundred million. Two hundred million people had been lost to this evil malady. Two hundred million!  
  
Blind anger swept through her, and she exited that screen and mindlessly opened others, stopping short when she saw who had last accessed the system.  
  
Her uncle Klane.  
  
She checked the date he had last entered. The day before last.  
  
He was accessing the system from afar.  
  
Why?  
  
Of course, her uncle had a password too, although his privileges weren't as many as hers. But what struck her was the fact that he *had tried to hide his entry*.  
  
He didn't want anyone knowing that he had accessed the system. He hadn't left a message for her mother, whom he knew was being held captive within the palace walls.  
  
Why not? What was he hiding? 


	17. Embryrionaic mayri

Chapter Seventeen- Embyrionaic mayri Psalm 145:18-20- "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hers their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him.."  
  
Tielle's suspicions continued to plague her the next day, but she pushed them aside and focused on the matter at hand: falling into the role of Farearian medic.  
  
Over breakfast the next morning, the newly arrived medics were debriefed on what was known about Myll.  
  
"We believe it to be an extremely fast-spreading virus that is possibly air- borne," the head medic, a balding man by the name of Fen Kaat informed them. In his manner, he revealed an arrogance that surpassed even the arrogance that Farearians were known for. Tielle hoped that she would go unnoticed by the man; they might have problems if he ever took it upon himself to criticize or pull rank on her.  
  
Leitana, who had thankfully not noticed a thing out of place that morning after Tielle's nighttime prowling, raised a hand. "Why do you not think it is a bacteria or some other sort of microorganism?"  
  
Tielle certainly hoped it was; there was no completely satisfactory treatment for viruses, and most of those that did exist also killed the cell.  
  
Kaat actually laughed at Leitana and her completely valid question, increasing Tielle's dislike for the man. "Come now. Fareari is on the cutting edge of bacteria research, and we have all the bacteria in this galaxy catalogued and researched in our labs on Fareari. If it was a bacteria, we would recognize the disease."  
  
Ah, that wonderful Farearian pride. Tielle raised her hand. "But there are too many bacteria to ever be able to research, sir. Isn't it possible that it is a bacteria from some small, unimportant planet where scientists have not been to and thus have not researched the bacteria there?"  
  
Kaat didn't like that suggestion, and he fixed a disapproving stare on Tielle. "If that is so, then how did such a bacteria get here on Hidon, doctor?"  
  
How indeed, Tielle wondered, but then understanding hit her.  
  
**  
  
Tielle tried not to reveal anything as the new medics were guided through the medical ward, carefully breathing through air filters as they made their way past the rows and rows of beds in what had once been the Great Hall. Tielle remembered her crowning there and then looked around at what had become of the place.  
  
Sickness was palpable in the air, even if one could not see the patients. But Tielle was unfortunate enough to be able to, and it almost made her sick just looking at the patients.  
  
*Oh God, give me strength. I can't break down here; doctors do not get queasy or sick from observing patients!* she prayed as she walked down the rows. In one bed, a patient was screaming and thrashing about, yelling about spiders as two nurses attempted to pin him down. In another, a young girl, whom Tielle recognized as a maid from the palace, vomited into a pail at the side of her bed.  
  
Still farther down, a man convulsed and writhed in a seizure, on his face an expression of pain. Beside him, a young girl had broken out in hives and boils that covered her face and body.  
  
Tielle was light-headed. These were her people! Suffering like this, without any relief from their varied and unpredictable ailments. She had to do something! She had to save them from the pain and death that awaited them!  
  
*Oh God, please help me to succeed! I can't fail; look at them! They need deliverance, God, please give it to them!*  
  
Her mind rebelliously flew to her father, and she had to fight for composure. How was he doing? Last she had heard, he was in a coma, but had he awoken? Was he now inflicted with some indescribably horrible pain? And how was her mother?  
  
Her questions were answered as the medics were led into a separate room from the Great Hall. There was only one bed in the room, and beside it sat a red-haired woman. *Mom!* Tielle wanted to cry at the look of hopelessness and sorrow on her mother's tired face.  
  
Monitors and wires of all kinds were hooked to her father, lying still in the bed. He looked sallow and thin, and there was an aura of death around him. Shari seemed to know it too, and she ignored the medics and Tielle as she gazed at her husband with sorrow written across her face.  
  
"Here we have the former king of Hidon," Kaat narrated with a sneer, "who fell into a coma and has been monitored ever since. We do not expect him to survive much longer unless a cure can be found, and even if he does survive, there is a great chance that he will be impaired and probably a-" he paused with a snicker, "-vegetable."  
  
A vegetable! No! Not her father, who was so strong and resolute and determined. Reduced to a mindless presence, confined to a useless body? No!  
  
The thought followed Tielle around the entire afternoon, putting her in a sort of mental haze that made her thankful she was merely reviewing scans of Myll's patient's brains and the dark blur that had been identified as the deadly illness. She didn't have to concentrate very much, and she thanked God that she didn't actually have to deal with any patients.  
  
She had fifteen minutes for a short break in the middle of the afternoon, and she pushed all her grievous thoughts aside and slipped away once again into the secret passages. Hurrying because she knew her time was limited, she accessed the system and tapped into her uncle's files.  
  
Because she was next in line to the throne, she had unlimited access to everything but her father's files, while Klane's access was limited and he didn't even know that she could look at them. She smiled wickedly to herself. If she found what she was looking for..  
  
Quickly pulling up records of the Klane's past credit transactions, she slowed down and cleared her mind. What should she be looking for? What would point to her uncle deliberately poisoning her world?  
  
Well, what did her uncle want? Why would he do such a thing?  
  
To kill her father.  
  
Fury slipped to the front of Tielle's emotions. That was it! He wanted the throne for himself! It probably wasn't even the Farearians who had sabotaged her three oldest siblings in that hover-car accident- it had probably been him!  
  
And he had probably assassinated Arilana, too!  
  
As furious as that made Tielle, a peace descended on her. *Focus, now. Focus. What are you here for?*  
  
The small voice made Tielle focus on the matter at hand, and she logically thought, *Well, okay. If Klane wanted to rule Hidon, he obviously wouldn't want to wipe the population out (although he's still doing a good job of it), and so would have a cure ready for after her father died.*  
  
Scrolling down, she searched for any transaction that hinted at such a cure existing.  
  
Bingo. A large sum of money had been transferred to Malaar, to a company by the name of Malaar Pharmaceutical.  
  
The purchase? Sofran, Tielle read, and looked at the note that Klane had made to himself. *Cure for Entinioblueic mayri,* Tielle read, and she almost exploded in excitement. Did she not only have the person responsible for Myll, but a cure *and the name of the disease??*  
  
She exited Klane's files and went to a database where she excitedly wrote "Embyrionaic mayri", thankful for her photographic memory. If this was in fact Myll, she would have the scientific name embedded in her memory, which would be extremely useful.  
  
Her results came up quickly, telling her that Embyrionaic mayri, or Em may, as it was better known, was a bacteria (ha! So it *was* a bacteria!) that caused an extremely fatal tropical disease, if left uncured.  
  
The disease, the short information continued to say, was common on Wren, Faant, and other poor, tropical planets.  
  
Faant! Jenai had worked on Faant!  
  
It was all coming together, and Tielle's head spun as she worked through a plan, discarding the idea of returning to the masquerade of being a Farearian doctor. There was no time for that; she had to get Sofran and get Jenai to Hidon.  
  
She couldn't do both; she needed help. Time was too precious and the numbers of deaths were rising daily. She would have to go to Malaar and pull rank to take Klane's Sofran, but someone else could go get Jenai..  
  
There was only one person who knew how to find Jenai.  
  
She needed Chayden. 


	18. Concerns and Thoughts

Chapter Eighteen- Concerns and Thoughts Psalm 55:22- "Cast your cares on the Lord.."  
  
Thoughts whirled and flew throughout Tielle's overwhelmed mind, melding together to create an incomprehensible fog. *Stop!* she screamed at herself. *Think! They need you- you can't screw this up now!*  
  
Okay. Stop, breathe. Think. First thing, she needed to contact Chayden. Could she do that safely from Hidon? Would she have to go somewhere where it was more likely she wouldn't be noticed? Where and how could she get there?  
  
Her first thought was of Hidon's closest allies, Ziex and Shansire. But Klane was on Ziex and must not know where she was or that she had found out he was the one to infect Hidon with Em may, and thus Shansire was the next, most logical, choice.  
  
It may have been the most logical, but still.. Tielle felt wrong about turning there, where her fiancé was. She hadn't thought of Kall in ages, hadn't wanted to think of him, content to forget about him and think of only Chayden.  
  
But now she and Chayden were estranged..  
  
She sighed. If they were estranged, should she even be asking him for help with saving Hidon? He was Farearian, after all, and had no allegiance to Hidon, even if it had always been assumed that Hidon would grant him political asylum.  
  
Perhaps it would be reasonable for Chayden to not want to help her, but Tielle couldn't help but know he would, if for no other reason than the sake of their past closeness. Plus they had common ties in God.  
  
Chayden *would* help her, Tielle knew, and since that part of the plan had been resolved, all there was left to do was to go to Shansire and get help from her fiancé.  
  
Kall, her fiancé. The man she had chosen to marry. It had been her choice.  
  
But even if the decision had been of her own freewill, she could not fight the tears that slipped down her pale cheeks as she turned and left the room.  
  
**  
  
And in the system, there still lay the message from Kall stating his desire to break of the engagement, untouched and unknown.  
  
**  
  
Gen stayed at a friend's house for a week but then sensed that it was time to return home, where she belonged and could be contacted if there was any news of her daughter.  
  
Gen had not given up hope; she still very much believed that her daughter could and would be rescued from the evils of slavery, but she somehow sensed that when she was next sought-out, it would not be because of any news of her daughter, but instead for some purpose she couldn't know..  
  
** Tesian and Rashea became extremely protective over Chayden, wary of both any more unexpected outsiders, but also of the rest of the colony, who now regarded Chayden as dangerous and certain to bring that danger to the rest of them.  
  
Chayden often wondered how much his presence was endangering the rest of Kansoth and if it wasn't better that he should just leave Diresh altogether. The problem was where he would go if he managed to somehow elude captivity.  
  
He longed to leave the planet, lonely and unsettled without Tielle, but didn't really consider the idea of leaving seriously, even if it might be better for Kansoth. If he was captured, he would put Tielle in danger, and wanted nothing less.  
  
Tielle. He missed her, and Rashea knew it. Either her or Tesian came to visit him daily, and the perceptive daughter always kept up a cheerful dialogue, as if she knew how the silence of the empty house grated on him.  
  
But Rashea's noise was different than Tielle's had been; Rashea was cheerful and bright, whereas Tielle had been prone to bouts of different moods. Tielle was abrupt and spontaneous, with random eruptions of anger, thoughts of philosophy, bouts of homesickness and times of contentment, whereas Rashea was a calm, steady ocean of cheer.  
  
Chayden found he enjoyed Tielle's refreshing passion instead of Rashea's tendency to weigh her thoughts before speaking, her opinions before expressing them, and her motives before acting. Tielle was impulsive, and Chayden found it made things more interesting. He knew he was fairly mediocre, and two average people didn't create much chemistry.  
  
To some, Tielle's seemingly always-changing moods may have been frustrating and difficult to understand, but thanks to gene-altered Farearian minds, Chayden had no trouble understanding the why behind Tielle's moods and actually found sensing her emotions fascinating. In the time they'd been together, he had become very attuned to her moods and emotions, ever mindful of her emotions unless his where occupied with one particular emotion.  
  
Like the night she'd found him with Shaina. He should have been able to sense her presence there, but Shaina had been so confusing and caused too much turmoil within him to be able to sense anything outside of himself. For that matter, he should have been able to sense the motive behind Shaina's demeanor and approach that night, but he had been preoccupied and distressed about the problems between him and Tielle.  
  
Problems that had only grown and exploded, leaving him here without her and unable to tell her all the things he wanted to tell her.  
  
He sighed and wondered if she ever even thought of him.  
  
** As Tielle used her override codes to obtain a small shuttle and slip unnoticed off Hidon, she worried. And worried. And worried.  
  
When the shuttle went into light-space, there was nothing to do, and so she was occupied with her thoughts, which were threatening to drive her mad.  
  
*Okay God,* she thought, *I need to shift my focus back to you. I'll go insane otherwise. I've got to learn to bring these concerns to you now instead of worrying about them myself!*  
  
She mentally went through a list of everything that was concerning her, praying for each worry: Hidon's, and more specifically, her father's illness, Hidon's occupation by enemies, her success at getting Sofran from Maalar, her success at getting Chayden to agree to go to Surlow and then Chayden's success at finding Jenai, her estrangement from Chayden, her relations with Shansire and Kall, her anger at Klane, her anger at Klane, her anger at Klane..  
  
Even praying about it brought a simmering of resentment that quickly started to bubble into fury. *Oh, God, help me. I thought I had mastered this hatred on Fareari, but I guess I haven't. Help me, God.*  
  
She shifted her mind to other matters, like how she was going to administer medicine to all of Hidon, a daunting task *without* Faihn occupying the planet. And what was she going to do about Klane? What power did she have, with her father as he was? Could she even have her uncle arrested? Had he not been a nobleman, certainly, but with him being her dad's brother, was she inside legal jurisdiction?  
  
And if she *wasn't*, how could she continue to avoid his assassination attempts?  
  
She sighed again and rubbed her temples. So, first priority was curing Hidon, second somehow doing something about Klane. Third was to get Fareari off Hidon.  
  
But how? Even if she managed to convince Shansire and Ziex to ally themselves and attempt to remove Fareari from Hidon, Fareari had her father and mother and the whole populace of Hidon, a very strong shield for them to hide behind. They could simply threaten to kill her father if Shansire and Ziex tried anything.. Or worse, they could threaten to torture her mother.  
  
Tielle shuddered but continued to try to think things through. The only way to prevent that from happening was to have a covert group of commandoes infiltrate the palace and take Faihn captive. Then they could demand whatever they wanted...  
  
Tielle mulled the idea over as the small shuttle sped on its way to Shansire.  
  
** Klane accessed Hidon's system, using his codes from Ziex to enter and become informed on changes there. The death toll had risen, naturally, and-  
  
His eyes narrowed as a signature came up on windows he opened, showing that someone had accessed the system from Hidon. Perhaps it was only Shari, finally having found a way to access the system without the Farearians noticing.  
  
But as he investigated further, he saw that it wasn't the queen's signature.  
  
It was the princess's. 


	19. Arrival on Shansire

Chapter Nineteen- Arrival on Shansire  
  
Psalm 10:9- "[The wicked] lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless."  
  
The princess had accessed the system from on Hidon.  
  
Klane's dumbfounded mind frantically raced with the implications of this discovery. His niece had been in the system. She had seen everything.  
  
Had she seen his business transaction with Malaar Pharmaceutical? But no, those were *his* files, accessible only with his password.  
  
Nonetheless, he called up the files and cursed when he found Tielle's signature all over them. Apparently she had override codes; Partini had trusted his daughter more than his brother.  
  
Even through his fury, Klane smiled. His brother, in that aspect, had been right. But he hadn't distrusted Klane enough, as his now-comatose state illustrated.  
  
Still, now Klane's plans were in great jeopardy. Would Tielle be able to realize what she had seen? Would she realize its implications?  
  
Klane thought of his redheaded niece; brash, impulsive, stubborn, but unfortunately also very intelligent. She had managed to escape Fareari, avoid his agents throughout the entire galaxy, and then sneak onto Hidon right past Faihn's nose.  
  
He had underestimated her intelligence even, a mistake that was proving to be devastating. She was fearless; she would try to find some way of retaliating against him.  
  
Klane dismissed that thought as soon as it occurred to him; what could she do to him? Nothing. She had no legal authority over him, even if her father *was* incapacitated, and certainly would not come over to Ziex to get him. That would not be what she was concerned with.  
  
Oh no; she would be concerned with getting the Sofran from Malaar.  
  
Well, Klane couldn't have that. *He* was going to liberate Hidon, once his foolish brother was dead.  
  
With a wicked smile that emphasized the malevolence in his hard eyes, Klane contacted Malaar.  
  
** Just as Tielle was beginning to realize the immensity and implications of what she was going to do, she reached Shansire's atmosphere. Opening a link to the groundside spaceport, she debated whether or not to reveal who she was and pull rank that way to get to talk to King Hael.  
  
But a better idea came to her, and when a voice crackled into her cockpit, asking who she was, she replied, "My name is Ella Raynani, and I have just escaped from Hidon. I need to speak to His Majesty King Hael."  
  
The voice seemed surprised at her words. "You said you escaped from *Hidon*?"  
  
"Affirmative. Things are deteriorating there, and the Farearians didn't notice me leave."  
  
"I can authorize your landing but you *may not leave your shuttle.* Repeat, you may not leave your shuttle. Coming from Hidon, you may be carrying the epidemic."  
  
Tielle sighed. "Affirmative. Transmit landing coordinates."  
  
He rambled off the series of numbers and quadrants, after which Tielle asked, "Will I be able to speak to King Hael?"  
  
"He is on the way to the spaceport now."  
  
** King Hael was waiting for Tielle as she landed and disembarked from the shuttle. Immediately, the king backed away from her. "You must be quarantined! You can't just walk out here- you might be carrying the disease!"  
  
The king's bodyguards converged on Tielle, and she yelled out to the king, "The disease is transmitted through fluids, not through contact with others! It is not contagious!"  
  
The king directed his guards to release her, and asked, "How can you be certain?"  
  
"Because I know the bacteria that causes the disease; it is called Embyrionaic mayri."  
  
"How do you-" Hael began, but Tielle cut him off. "It is not important, Your Highness. What is important is that you take me with you to your palace, where I will explain everything."  
  
Hael eyed her, no doubt wondering from where her gall came, and asked, "Who are you?"  
  
Tielle had wondered if he would recognize her, but was relieved that he hadn't. Then when Ella Raynani was discovered missing on Hidon, she would not be connected to Princess Tielle Satine. "I am Princess Tielle Satine of Hidon."  
  
"What!" Hael exclaimed and stepped closer to the princess to look at her more closely. "How can this be? I don't believe it." "Do," Tielle said firmly, tiring of wasting anymore time. "I have been on the run all this time, but now come out of hiding to tell you that I need your help. I know how to stop the epidemic on Hidon, and have nowhere else to turn. Klane is a traitor; he orchestrated both this epidemic and the deaths of all my siblings. I will of course deal with him later, but for now I need to get the antidote for Em may, which is on Malaar."  
  
Apparently deciding from her brusque, no-nonsense manner that she was indeed the princess, Hael gestured for them to go to his 'car and for her to continue talking.  
  
"But just possessing the antidote will not be enough; I need someone to oversee the administration of it. I know such a person, on Surlow-" Hael raised his eyebrows at the mention of the notorious planet but said nothing, "but do not want to waste time going there to get her."  
  
"Can you not just contact her or send for her?" Hael interceded. "Is there any need to go there in person?"  
  
"Yes, there is," Tielle replied shortly, irritated at being interrupted. "She is a former slave and is wanted. To contact her through normal channels would alert the authorities of her whereabouts and jeopardize her. Thus, I need someone who knows where she lives to go and get her.  
  
"The only other person who could do that is on Diresh, and I will need to contact him there."  
  
"Diresh?" Hael repeated incredulously as they boarded the 'car. Tielle prepared to fight panic but realized that her fear of hover-cars were gone, replaced instead by a rage at her uncle. It was a startling realization, and it took her a moment to refocus on what Hael was saying. "Who is on Diresh?"  
  
"Chayden P'ashara."  
  
"P'ashara? Isn't that Faihn's name?"  
  
"Yes. Chayden is Faihn's son."  
  
"What?" Hael burst at this news. "What are you thinking, to trust a Farearian? And a member of the royal family, no less? You can't contact him! He will betray you! No Farearian is anything better than a pagan monster!"  
  
Tielle closed her eyes and remembered when she had thought the same. But something, somewhere, had changed..  
  
It had been that moment when Arilana had died and Tielle had fallen into Chayden's arms. There the comfort that he had given her, an enemy prisoner, had broken down the barriers and opened her heart to him.. Tielle frowned. Arilana's death. After which she had read her Holy Books (where were her Holy Books? Still on Diresh? Hidon? Where had she forgotten them?) and come to the conclusion that hatred was wrong and that she had to forgive.  
  
Forgive even Klane?  
  
Yes. Even her sadistic uncle who had ruined billions of lives, including hers.  
  
She sighed. That would take some work.  
  
Hael was still ranting about Tielle's foolishness in thinking she could trust a Farearian, and Tielle stirred from her reverie and summoned her arrogant, quick tongue. "You make judgments without hearing all the facts. The fact is that I would trust Chayden P'ashara with my life, and have many times in the past. It is he who rescued me from execution on Fareari, even though it meant he was disowned for it. When you disdain him, you disdain me, and I will hear no more against him, from you or anyone else."  
  
Chayden. she suddenly remembered something. He *had* told her he loved her, once, after she had woken up in the prison's infirmary. Why had she forgotten that? *How* had she forgotten that, with her photographic memory? He *did* love her! He did!  
  
And she loved him.  
  
Suddenly, she didn't care what would happen to Shansire-Hidon relations if she broke off her engagement with Kall and said to King Hael, who had been shocked into silence, "I cannot marry your son."  
  
He gave a look of extreme confusion. "What do you mean? Didn't you receive his message?"  
  
"His message?" Now Tielle was confused and feeling more than just a bit stupid. "What message?"  
  
"I guess you didn't. It said he wanted to break of the engagement."  
  
"He did?" Tielle thought that it was probable that no one else in history had ever been so happy about a broken engagement. "He doesn't want to marry me?"  
  
She considered how her glee that she didn't have to marry Kall must appear to his father and started laughing. "I mean, it's not that he's not a good guy, it's just-" she couldn't speak anymore; laughter had taken over her.  
  
"First thing you do when we get to the palace is have a nap," Hael declared, spurring Tielle on to laughing even more. 


	20. Destinations:Surlow and Malaar

A/n- I apologize for the long wait. Enjoy the latest update and review afterwards! And, if you feel so inclined, go read my fic at FictionPress (sorry, couldn't resist the desire to try and sell my other work). It's a fantasy called Clouds of War- The Azure Pool. Only positive feedback about it, so it can't be totally awful.  
  
ANYWAY, about *this* story- here it is! Enjoy! Review!  
  
Chapter Twenty- Destinations: Surlow and Malaar Isaiah 30:21- "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"  
  
The next twenty-four hours passed with more flurried activity and decisions than Tielle had ever been a part of before, and there was no time for her nap. There was no time for anything.  
  
It was agreed that Tielle's proposed idea of what should happen was right; Chayden had to be contacted on Diresh and told to go to Surlow (although King Hael and Kall were very reluctant to agree to this) while Tielle ventured to Maalar to obtain the Sofran. Kall had volunteered to accompany her, but Tielle still wasn't sure she welcomed the help. Kall may only slow her down.  
  
Hael suggested contacting both Hidon and Ziex; Hidon, to inform Faihn that the epidemic was Em may and tell him to cut off the water supply, and Ziex, to quietly get Queen Tenia to put Klane under house arrest.  
  
Of course, Tielle had to do all this, and so she had spent the night recording and transmitting messages to the different planets while trying to prepare and coordinate her trip to Malaar.  
  
She had told Chayden to come to Shansire after finding Jenai on Surlow; the plan was to rendezvous with the two after she and Kall returned from Malaar and try and figure out the best way to quickly treat Hidon.  
  
Tielle debated whether or not to contact Malaar and inform them of her coming, but had decided against it in the interest of security. Klane would be watching Malaar carefully.  
  
**  
  
That morning, Tesian had gone into Paeona to attempt to try and find out if there were any more people looking for Chayden and Tielle or if it might be safe for him to leave. Leave to where was his question. He had nowhere to go.  
  
He doubted that Tesian would come back telling him it was safe to leave. But maybe she would; maybe his father was too busy with the illness on Hidon to worry about him anymore.  
  
He wondered whether Tielle had made any progress on Hidon, if she was still there. He was sure he would have heard if she'd been discovered, but he still worried. She was impulsive and emotional. If she became worked up, she was liable to do something thoughtless and reveal herself.  
  
Tesian returned at lunch, very surprising to both Chayden and Rashea. "She's never back from the city this early," Rashea said, her brow furrowed as they listened to the sound of the hover-car growing nearer.  
  
She didn't say what that meant, but she didn't need to. Obviously, Tesian had quickly found that there were still people looking for Chayden. Chayden sighed. Being a fugitive was tiring.  
  
Tesian burst into the small house. "Chayden!" she gasped, her face flushed and eyes wide. Excitement radiated off her like a beacon. "You won't believe it!"  
  
"What?" he asked, alarmed. "Are they coming back? Do I need to-"  
  
"No!" Tesian exclaimed, uncharacteristically cutting him off. "It's Tielle."  
  
The world around Chayden shifted, and a gaping hole seemed to form in his stomach and travel right up to his heart. He became cold, so cold. *Tielle..*  
  
"She left you a message!" Tesian shoved a small datachip at him.  
  
"A- message?" Chayden choked on the words. "She's not d-"  
  
"No!" Tesian exclaimed. "At least she wasn't three hours ago. That's when the message was transmitted. I pulled it off the computer and transferred it to the 'chip."  
  
Chayden looked at the small thing as though it held all the riches of the galaxy.  
  
"Well," Tesian prompted, "activate it."  
  
Chayden pressed a small button on the bottom of the 'chip and set it down on the kitchen table.  
  
A miniature holographic image of Tielle appeared, and although the image was small, Chayden could tell she was tired and very tense. "Hello Chayden," she quietly said, strain evident in her voice. "I am currently on Shansire, having left Hidon after discovering that the disease on Hidon is a tropical disease called Em may, unleashed in the water supply by my dear uncle Klane." Bitterness exuded from her tone, but with effort she reigned it in. "Anyway, I will be going to Malaar to obtain the cure, but we need someone who knows how to administer it.  
  
"That is where I need your help. Jenai used to be a doctor on Faant, where Em may is common. She will know how to treat the disease and must be brought to Shansire as soon as possible. This responsibility falls to you, being the only person besides myself who knows how to reach her." She paused. "I realize that you have no obligation whatsoever to do this, but please, Chayden. I know you have already done so much for me and I will never be able to pay off my debt, but I have no where else to turn."  
  
She paused again. "May God be with you and- I'm looking forward to seeing you on Shansire."  
  
The hologram winked out and Chayden sadly thought, *Did you think I'd need convincing to help you?*  
  
Tesian and Rashea were watching him, and he snapped to attention. "Well, I guess I have to go to Surlow," he cheerfully said, taking the datachip off the table.  
  
"Surlow?" Tesian exclaimed. "That's where this Jenai is?"  
  
He nodded. "I know it's not the best place to go, but I'm not going for a vacation. I'll be fine." He checked a chronometer. "I'll leave tomorrow morning."  
  
Tesian shook her head. "I don't think that's very wise. I didn't bother to check if there were any suspicious people lingering around in Paeona. They could still be out there, Chayden."  
  
He shrugged. "I'll take my chances. I can't very well tell Tielle that the risk was too high; look at the risks she's taken."  
  
** Klane was all too aware that the first thing his niece would have done after discovering that the disease on Hidon was Em may, she would go somewhere for help, "somewhere" being Shansire. After all, she *was* engaged to a prince there.  
  
And she may have contacted Queen Tenia, making it dangerous for him to stay on Ziex any longer. So he packed up and left one night, slipping out quietly and leaving a message for the queen thanking her for her hospitality and apologizing for his hasty departure; something had come up.  
  
So on Diresh, as ex-prince and fugitive Chayden P'ashara prepared to go to Surlow, notorious for its crime and slavery, and as on Shansire, hunted princess and last of her bloodline Tielle Satine left for Malaar, Grand Duke Klane Satine, treacherous murderer of billions, left Ziex under the cover of night, before Queen Tenia received Tielle's message.  
  
His destination: Malaar. 


	21. About the wait

I apologize greatly for the LONG delay- I am having more trouble uploading than you can imagine, and it is driving me insane! I'm still working at it, though, but in the meantime it has been suggested to me that if you would like me to e-mail you any updates, that might be a lot quicker. If so, just e-mail me at smart_blond47@hotmail.com, with Beyond Hope in the subject line. We'll see if that works.  
  
Again, sorry for the delay. 


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